Abdulsamad Ali
8 May 2008
Nairobi — About 1,000 recently imported vehicles are stuck at different container freight stations in Mombasa due to a shortage of registration number plates.
A new Kenya Revenue Authority requirement demands that no vehicle should be released without a number plate.
The Nation has established that the plates' shortage was caused by prison warders' strike at Kamiti.
Supervision
The number plates are produced by prisoners at Kamiti Maximum Prison under the supervision of the warders.
The lack of number plates has restricted the clearance of vehicles from the freight stations in the last two weeks, sources in the motor industry said.
The sources said approximately 1,000 vehicles cannot leave the Customs-registered freight stations.
The figure is expected to go up as more vehicles, especially second-hand ones from Dubai and the Far East, arrive in Mombasa.
According to a shipping advisory from the Kenya Ports Authority on Wednesday, 1,250 vehicles are expected at the port in the next 14 days.
The KRA introduced the regulation on the number plates after vehicles in transit found their way into the local market through corruption.
Commitment
KRA corporate affairs manager for Coast region Fatma Yusuf, said on Monday they had received 500 number plates, 200 on Tuesday and 200 were airlifted on Wednesday.
"We have a firm commitment from our suppliers that they will produce according to the demand and we should be out of this problem in a short while," she said.
She said importers who had cleared all their dues with KRA and are being charged storage fees should seek a waiver.
"All cases will be treated with speed and those that qualify for a waiver will be considered first," Ms Yusuf said, adding that importers not affected by the delay in number plates should not apply for the waiver.
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