The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Tuesday, January 11, launched a nationwide crackdown on rogue motorists.
This follows a spike in the number of vehicles operating using fake or fabricated registration numbers popularly known as number plates.
According to the authority, several syndicates have been sneaking cars from neighbouring countries into Kenya through the boarders.
At the various boarder stops, the vehicle owners declare that the vehicles are only on transit.
However, once they get into the country, they work in cahoots with car dealers to illegally secure number plates for their vehicles.
"Some have fake number plates, which are those made by local scrap metal dealers, following the due process of registration.
"Alternatively, they get number plates from vehicles which have been written off and use them," the NTSA official stated.
Vehicles bearing diplomatic plates will also be put under scrutiny. The authority stated that some Kenyans fail to change the registration number to the conventional yellow plates.
This is in a bid to evade paying tax- an offence termed as economic sabotage.
In line with this, NTSA has given the motorists one week to surrender themselves to authorities or face the law.
On December 28, 2021, police arrested a man in Nyandarua after he confessed to using a number plate he bought from a motor vehicle scrap yard in 2018.
His vehicle was registered in South Sudan but he managed to buy a Kenyan plate (KAN 414P) from the yard.