The Nation (Nairobi)
Caroline Wafula
4 November 2009
Nairobi — A dispute between the ministries of Finance and Transport has delayed the introduction of the digitalised driving licence.
The smart card licence, meant to improve road safety by encouraging responsible road use by motorists, had been scheduled to be launched next month.
On Wednesday, Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere revealed that this may not be possible until the stalemate between his Ministry and that of Finance is resolved.
The Ministry of Finance walked out on inter-ministerial deliberations working on the tender analysis process last year.
It is still not clear why Finance opted out of the deliberations.
The situation got more complicated when the Ministry refused to append its signature on the final report of the team which lays basis for the implementation of the second generation driving license.
The report dated December 2008 had recommended the introduction of the new international standard driving licensing system that would phase out the current red booklet licenses in December this year.
Mr Mwakwere told the House committee on Transport that he publicly stated the new generation licenses would be ready for adoption by December on the basis of the document prepared by the inter-ministerial team.
Committee chairman David Were said they will seek an explanation from the Finance ministry to clear the matter. A committee member Alego Usonga MP Edwin Yinda said it would seek to establish whether the ministry was "anti-progress".
The Finance Minister may be asked to appear before the team to explain why it withdrew from the process.
The second generation license seeks to replace the current ones considered outdated and out of tune with the latest technological developments.
It will contain information such as personal identification number (PIN), contacts, past traffic offences, fines previously paid, warnings and signature.
Police officers will also be armed with a reading device to enable them detect any information on the holder and add a charge sheet to the data base if necessary.
Proponents of the new system say it will help reduce the number of roads accidents as all information and the driving history, including past traffic offences of a holder will be loaded and stored on the his card.
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