Vehicles bearing foreign number plates to be seized starting next week

Cars bearing foreign number plates will not be along on the Kenyan roads beginning next week.

The cars which bear the old South Sudanese number plates will be impounded starting next Wednesday by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)

This follows changes in numbering system by Africa’s youngest nation which requires all car owners even those residing outside the country to comply with the directive.

Juba has nullified number plates series starting with CE, EE, SSJS, UNS, WS and NBGS, replacing them with nationalised country code SSD as the only recognised code.

The nullification means that owners of the six number plates, including those residing and driving cars with such in Kenya, are expected to comply and change to the new number plate system.

As a result, NTSA issued a December 13 ultimatum for the vehicles to be registered afresh.

“Implementation of the new registration series begins from December 13,” said NTSA director-general Francis Meja in a notice last week.

The agency has directed its regional managers to enforce the directive and impound vehicles bearing the nullified plates.

“All parties concerned should ensure that they acquire the new number plates from the Government of South Sudan before the end of the deadline.”

Flashy fuel guzzlers bearing South Sudanese number plates have become a common staple on Kenyan roads as many of its nationals reside and do business in the country.

A few Kenyans as well own the cars due to having worked in South Sudan or both them there due to prices differences.

Kenya Revenue Authority normally allows transit vehicles cleared by the Customs and those licensed to transit goods through Kenya to bear foreign number plates as well as imported cars on a temporary basis, usually valid for a year.