Duncan Kibogong, Deputy Director in charge of Safety Strategies and County Co-ordination at the National Transport and Safety Authority on Wednesday, May 10, defended the proposed move to subject private vehicles to mandatory inspection.
Kibogong indicated that the move to change the law was informed by concerns raised by stakeholders in the field who argued that private cars ought to be inspected just like Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) and heavy commercials.
In a media interview, Kibogong justified the move maintaining that private vehicles suffer wear and tear after prolonged operation hence the need to subject them to mandatory inspection.
At the same time, Kibogong noted that different transport stakeholders had supported the bid indicating it was one of the ways of restoring sanity on the roads.
"The general feeling across board is that we need to have all the vehicles in the country inspected," Kibogong stated.
"The fact that we have PSV and heavy commercial vehicles being inspected, we need to have private vehicles inspected because it appears discriminatory that only the vehicles which are public service sector and heavy commercial are the only ones subjected to motor vehicle inspection by the government," he further explained.
According to the NTSA boss, the move was critical in ensuring that only roadworthy vehicles are allowed to operate on different highways.
If traffic laws are enacted, private vehicles would also be issued roadworthiness certificates approving their operations on various highways.
Addressing the authority's capacity to conduct the yearly inspection, Kibogong noted that NTSA and the national government had made plans to outsource inspection services.
The contracted companies would also help NTSA inspect matatus and heavy commercials if the proposed law is adopted.
"Motor vehicle inspection is something we are working towards outsourcing so that as a regulator so that we have a limited number of motor vehicle inspections for PSVs and for heavy commercial vehicles," Kiborong insisted.
His sentiments came after a series of public participation forums on the NTSA 2022 Draft Regulations. Operating without an inspection certificate would be considered a traffic offence in the proposed regulations.
Altering the inspection certificate issued by NTSA or any other inspection centre would also be considered an offence.
Additionally, motorists who try to beat the system by using an inspection certificate assigned to another vehicle would also be considered to have contravened the draft regulations.
However, the draft regulations are yet to be adopted for enforcement across the country.
