A vehicle with GK number plates pictured in Poland on Thursday, March 9, went viral as social media users wondered whether the car belonged to the Kenyan government and how it got to the foreign land overseas.
The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) - of the Volkswagen model - had registration number GKA 74099.
However, Kenyans.co.ke, through an image reverse search technology, established that the car did not belong to the government and was owned by a private citizen in Poland.
The research also showed that the GK series of number plates was legal in Poland.
Unlike Kenya where the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has reserved the K** number plate series for private vehicles, Poland issues different number plates depending on the provinces in the European country.
Poland has 16 provinces and the GK number plate series is issued to vehicles from the Pomorskie Province.
Additionally, the number plate had a European Union (EU) logo - 12 stars put on a blue strip on the left side of the number plate.
The addition of EU logo was introduced in 1988 in Europe and was aimed at helping in the identification of vehicles.
"This format was widely known and used because it certainly satisfies all the requirements in Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.
"The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic states that cross-border cars or vehicles must always display distinguishing symbols or signs of the exact country of the registration on the rear part of that certain vehicle," Fuwong, a number plate maker, stated on its website.
On the other hand, the polish vehicles had five numbers after GKA. Kenyan vehicles have three numbers after GKA and an alphabetical letter at the end.
Questions about the vehicle's country of origin emanated from the fact that a number of government agencies use the GKA number plate series.
Additionally, given that the car was of the Volkswagen model, many believe that the car belonged to Kenya Government. A number of government institutions have settled for the German model following the government's directive on using low-fuel-consuming vehicles.
