Releasing vehicles from the port of Mombasa has always been a seamless process since once a vehicle has been cleared and the release letter issued, it could easily be moved from Mombasa to Nairobi and elsewhere using KD plates. Today, that is not possible since there is no sharing of KD plates as it used to be.
@ntsa_kenya has now stopped the business of hiring out KD plates, which many dealers relied on to move unregistered vehicles. Previously, a dealer could facilitate movement of a car using available KD plates, but that system has now been shut down.This means even after clearing a vehicle and paying all duties, you cannot move it unless you have properly assigned KD plates under strict NTSA control which are now limited. At the same time, there is a major delay in issuance of number plates, meaning vehicles cannot be registered on time. So we now have a situation where cars are fully cleared but stuck at the port and CFS yards because:
- You cannot use shared KD plates
- You cannot get new plates in time
This is not just enforcement, it is exposing a deeper systemic gap in vehicle registration and movement in Kenya.
#CarImports #NTSA #directimport