NAIROBI, Kenya, May 4 – A joint taskforce consisting of officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Postal Corporation of Kenya has been formed to find out why many posted driving licences fail to reach their owners.
KRA’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles Simeon ole Kirgotty told reporters on Monday that the Authority was currently holding thousands of licences which are sent back from Posta, an issue that is raising concern for them.
“We have about 3,000 returned (driving) licences and that’s why we want to know why we have so many ‘return-to- sender’ licences and log books. Is it a problem with the Registrar or is it with the Postmaster (General)?” he posed.
He however said that preliminary investigations had revealed that part of the problem was caused by most driving schools which give their addresses instead of those of the registered owners.
Mr Kirgotty said the team was expected to submit a report on Friday this week.
Speaking after issuing five motorcycle dealers with new unique number plates, Mr Kirgotty said they had introduced a specific counter at their offices to aid faster registration of the bikes, vehicles and other modes of transport.
He added that the newly opened ‘express’ counter coupled with the now efficient computerised system would now see the people receive their log books in approximately three days as opposed to the usual seven working days.
“The mix-up of registering motorcycles, vehicles and the system failures have proved a challenge. But we have an express counter; our (computerised) system is also very fast now it will take people three days to get their logbooks,” the Commissioner said.
The exercise to issue the new set of number plates for motorcycles, wheel tractors and three wheelers, which is meant to distinguish them from those of motor vehicles, should be done in the next three months. It is also expected to weed out motor vehicles whose duty has not been paid or those that have been acquired illegally.
Motor bikes owners with the old series have been called upon to return them to KRA offices so as to be issued with the new set at no cost.
