Transport and Roads CS, Kipchumba Murkomen during an interview with Citizen TV’s Trevor Ombija disclosed plans to hike the charges for acquiring number plate and the need to support the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in delivering on its mandate.

The CS also advocated for the number plates price by an excess of Ksh 10,000 from the current Ksh. 3,000 for every person acquiring new number plates.

“If I bought a car for 1 million and I am told only Ksh. 10,000 for the number plate, I don’t think that is too much for it… the cost of the metal plate has gone high. You cannot continue charging 1,000 that was charged maybe 10 years ago,” the CS noted, adding that he had tabled his proposal formally in parliament, but it was yet to be subjected to public participation.

In the debate Murkomen argued that a motorist who considers changing the color of his car and spending money on what he argued was a luxury can afford to pay for hiked number plate charges.

“By the time somebody has the luxury to change the color of a vehicle, that person has the resources,” Murkomen said.

Ombija argued that the motorist can incur charges when transferring ownership of the vehicle which was differed by the CS, stating that there was a need to improve service delivery.

“Change of ownership… the same. It’s like a transfer. If you were to buy land today, you are going to pay 4 per cent in Nairobi to do something called stamp duty. In the same manner, I don’t know why it would be difficult for a person who was able to change ownership of a vehicle to pay a transfer fee… all these things are meant to make sure the services that are provided by NTSA in terms of safety, registration and supporting the technology that we have employed to make sure people can get car searches in good time. All these services require resources. We don’t want NTSA to go back to the treasury and tax the same people (motorists) and all Kenyans, including mama mboga, for a service consumed by a specific number of people,” he noted.