The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is planning a major overhaul of how driving licences and vehicle number plates are produced by bringing private investors on board to improve service delivery and reduce long waiting times.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Monday, June 15, NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa said the proposed changes are intended to address the persistent delays that have affected the production and issuance of the two critical documents for years.
According to Kondiwa, the government should not be directly involved in the production and sale of driving licences and number plates, arguing that many countries have adopted a model where licensed private companies handle the process.
“I do not think a government, or any government institution, should be trading in number plates, which is what has been happening in Kenya since independence,” Kondiwa said.
He added that NTSA plans to license private producers in the coming days, noting that the approach has worked well in other countries.
“If you look at what is happening in other countries, the governments actually license private producers, and that is what we intend to do in the coming days,” he said.
Kondiwa attributed the delays in issuing driving licences to inadequate funding, revealing that the smart driving licence project introduced in 2017 has not achieved its full potential because of limited resources.
He noted that since the programme was launched nearly a decade ago, only 20 enrolment kits have been deployed across the country.
“Delay in driving licence production is a problem of underfunding. This smart driving licence started in 2017, and we have only used 20 enrolment kits,” he said.
To address the challenge, NTSA is proposing a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model that would allow private investors to finance and manage key parts of the driving licence production process.
Under the proposed plan, the investor would establish up to 290 centres nationwide, enabling Kenyans to apply for and receive their driving licences within a much shorter period.
“This is why driving licence production is one of the things we are taking to PPP. Why don’t we have the private sector invest in this? What has really affected us are the court orders,” Kondiwa said.
If implemented, the reforms are expected to streamline the production of driving licences and vehicle number plates, shorten waiting periods, and improve access to NTSA services across the country.