Jesse Kamau who previously owned a Toyota Starlet registered as KAL 903E has distanced himself from the car seized by the police in Makindu, a Toyota Grand Mark II, with a similar registration number/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 18 – It has now emerged that a vehicle impounded by police in Makindu last month with a huge consignment of bang had a double registered number plate.
Jesse Kamau who previously owned a Toyota Starlet registered as KAL 903E has distanced himself from the car seized by the police in Makindu, a Toyota Grand Mark II, with a similar registration number.
Kamau clarified that he sold his car in 2010 to his brother – Onsesmus Kinyajui – who later sold it to a car dealer in 2016.
Kamua noticed the car he previously owned was still registered in his name in December 2018 when he created a Transport Integrated Management Systems (TIMS) account with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
A further examination of the photograph provided by the police revealed the car impounded in Makindu was different from the vehicle previously owned by Kamau.
According to Kamau, the owner of a Toyota Starlet he previously owned lives in Marsabit, and the car was not subject of an ongoing probe on the bhang consignment recovered by police in Makindu.
Capital FM News had on January 5 indicated that police were looking for Kamau who was erroneously identified as the owner of the Toyota Grand Mark II, a vehicle he never owned.
“The aforementioned post (report) has caused and continues to cause great harm, injury and damage to our client and his position at his place of work. Our client continues to suffer damage to both his reputation and career as a result,” his lawyer wrote in a statement clarifying the matter.
NTSA recently came into the spotlight for double registration of vehicles, Kamau’s case putting to question the credibility of records held by the transport agency.
A number of NTSA officials are currently undergoing investigations over their alleged involvement in a criminal web issuing a single registration number to multiple vehicles.
The terrorist attack on 14 Riverside Drive last month exposed the trend after a vehicle was recovered in Rongai with a similar registration number, KCN 340E, to the one used by al-Shabaab militants to stage the attack. The two vehicles were of the same make – Toyota Ractis.
Early this month a family found details of their deceased kin on NTSA’s TIMS portal, records showing that the deceased imported vehicles long after she had died.
Toyota Grand Mark II, with a similar registration number was seized with rolls of bhang at Makindu/COURTESY
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