NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 11 – Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has alleged that the newly rolled out multi-billion shilling automated traffic enforcement system is a cash cow intended to unfairly extract money from motorists.
Nyoro claimed that the government’s decision to deploy smart traffic cameras and introduce instant fines through the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) may be driven by commercial interests rather than road safety.
“If Kenyans knew the kind of things that happen every day in our country, they would not wait even one more day. The impatience in the country would grow because people cannot keep waiting,” Nyoro said.
The former President William Ruto ally turned critic said he became suspicious after a recent road safety meeting where the Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir was reportedly instructed to install hundreds of traffic cameras within a month.
According to the MP, the speed and urgency of the directive suggested the programme could be a money-making scheme.
“For someone who understands how these people operate, I immediately knew this was business. I knew this was a scheme being prepared for people to eat money,” Nyoro said.
The comments come days after the NTSA confirmed that the new Instant Fines Traffic Management System had gone live on March 9, allowing traffic offences to be detected automatically by smart cameras and fines issued via SMS.
– How the NTSA instant fines system works –
The automated enforcement programme is part of a Sh42 billion public-private partnership involving NTSA, KCB Bank Kenya Limited and Pesa Print Limited.
The system will deploy about 1,000 speed enforcement cameras across major roads including the Thika Superhighway, Mombasa Road and the Southern Bypass.
Using artificial intelligence and automatic number plate recognition technology, the cameras capture traffic violations and instantly send motorists a fine notification via SMS.
NTSA says the project is meant to curb road accidents after more than 5,100 people died on Kenyan roads in 2025.
But Nyoro warned that the system could become another way of collecting money from struggling Kenyans.
“They call them instant fines. I want to say clearly that instant fines could become another vehicle of patronage to take the little money that has remained in the pockets of Kenyans,” Nyoro said.
Nyoro also criticised the long-term nature of the deal, noting that the project is expected to run for more than two decades.
“Hii mambo yote wanaita PPP na wanajipea kandarasi ya miaka 20. Can you imagine that? Ati mtu wa boda boda akifanya makosa barabarani pesa inakatwa kwa simu yake direct. Wakenya tutakubali hayo?” he posed.
The instant fines system is already facing a legal challenge in court.
The High Court declined to suspend the programme but directed that the case be served on all parties, with the matter scheduled for mention on April 9.
The ruling followed a petition by Kennedy Maingi Mutwiri who is challenging it’s rollout on constitutional grounds.
