Speaking during an interview on NTV on Tuesday, Kondiwa said the policy is driven by national security concerns, the need to ensure roadworthy vehicles, and the government’s objective of maintaining accurate records of vehicles for national planning.
“We have the national security to take care of, we have road safety matters to take care of in terms of the roadworthiness of the vehicle, and we need to know the population of the vehicles for national planning. All these three elements, you can only achieve them through a consistent and regular contact with vehicles,” said Kondiwa.
He clarified that the four-year inspection threshold is calculated from a vehicle’s date of manufacture rather than its year of importation. Kondiwa also claimed that private vehicles account for about 62 per cent of road accidents in Kenya.
Addressing concerns over the Ksh.2,000 inspection fee, Kondiwa said it was necessary to ensure the programme remains financially sustainable.
He explained that private investors tasked with establishing and operating vehicle inspection centers must be able to recover their investments while providing efficient and high-quality services.
“We are just saying it is now Ksh 2,000. Why? Because there are private inspection centers that we need private investors to invest in, and no one will invest in these things if there’s no return on investment,” Kondiwa said.
The Director General dismissed claims that the inspection programme is primarily intended to generate revenue for the authority, arguing that NTSA has several other avenues for raising income.
He revealed that the authority is also exploring the possibility of introducing an auction system for premium vehicle number plates as an avenue to generate funds.
Kondiwa disclosed that the government has already established 17 vehicle inspection centers and plans to expand the network to all 47 counties.
He added that counties with high vehicle populations, such as Nairobi and Mombasa, as well as major transport corridors, will have more inspection centers to improve efficiency and accessibility.
Kondiwa further acknowledged that the government lacks an accurate record of the number of vehicles currently on Kenyan roads, attributing the challenge to poor deregistration practices and illegal alteration of vehicle identities.
“We don’t know the number of vehicles on our roads. We don’t know because the truth is, since we started registering vehicles, we don’t deregister them. They die, those ones they used to make other metals, are still in our register to date,” he said.
The NTSA had introduced a mandatory annual vehicle inspection regulation to be in effect as of July 1. Under the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026, all privately owned and government vehicles older than four years from the date of manufacture are required to undergo an inspection test once every year.
