The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on Wednesday, July 13, broke down the process of owning and operating drones in the country.
Speaking during the Transfer and Infrastructure Conference at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Francis Njagi from KCAA stated that individuals have the option for buying drones locally or import them.
Those buying locally must do so from licensed dealers while importation would require a permit from the authority.
"If you want to ship in one, you will require an import permit but before we do, we will need details of the person importing and what purpose the drones will be used for," he stated.
All drone purchases should be filed with KCAA which will give each a unique registration number - an equivalent of the vehicle number plate.
However, drone owners will not be allowed to operate the devices unless they provide certification demonstrating that they are trained pilots.
Those without certification have to undergo training in Unmanned Aircraft Training Organisations (UTO) to obtain the license. However, this will still not be enough to fly the drone.
"For you to fly, you require a Remote Aircraft Operator Certificate (ROC) which allows to to fly the aircraft for commercial purposes," Njagi explained.
Notably, drone operators will have to inform KCAA of any planned use of the drones so that the institution can keep record of flying objects within the Kenyan airspace.
Fahari Aviation, whose parent company is Kenya Airways, stated that a complete drone pilot license course takes four weeks and costs Ksh200,000.
Apart from commercial use in videography and cinematography, enterprises and government agencies have incorporated the use of the aircrafts in service delivery.
On July 11, Kisumu governor Anyang' Nyong'o revealed that the county had partnered with US firm, Zipline, company, to introduce drones to delivery of medical supplies across the city using drones.
