Kenya National Authority has put rogue truck drivers on notice over a rising trend of driving without number plates.
Weighbridge managers along the Northern corridor said the crime is committed by sand and building material transporters, who hide their plates to avoid the virtual weighbridge cameras.
DCI detectives partnered with KeNHA to carry out tape-lifting so as to verify the impounded vehicle’s chassis number and engine number to ensure that the details match the registration documents.
The process is after numerous reports of vehicles altering the chassis numbers to hide the true registration details of a specific truck.
The Traffic Act, of 2016, revised in 2019, mandates that all vehicles on Kenyan roads have number plates.
If a motorist is found driving without a number plate, they face a fine of Ksh300,000 or a jail term of one year. Failure to submit a license plate to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles also results in similar penalties.
“A person who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or both,” reads the Act in part.
KeNHA said such trucks could be used to commit crimes as they are untraceable by the system.
Police officers attached to the Axle Load Enforcement Unit have been mobilized to assist KeNHA officials during mobile patrols to identify rogue lorries for prosecution
Police officers can remove number plates if a vehicle is unroadworthy, and the order remains in force until repairs are completed and the vehicle is certified as complying with construction, use, equipment, and weight rules.
According to Officer Commanding Axle Load Enforcement and Highways Unit John Gichohi, the impounded vehicles will be charged a daily parking fee of Sh6,200 until the fines are paid. At that point, they will be auctioned to recover the money.
Gichohi stated that police officers stationed on major highways throughout the country have been instructed to ensure that vehicles carrying heavy loads follow the set guidelines or use the required road network in order to save the government billions of shillings in road repair costs each year.
“Traffic officers operating along our major highways are under orders to ensure that no vehicle carrying a load exceeding the set capacity operates on our various roads, with those who do not obey the law being arrested,” he said.
