Kenya Runs Out of Number Plates

As if the political turmoil and misery over water and electricity shortages were not enough, bureaucratic chaos also reigns in Kenya with the news that the government now appears to have run out of number plates!

Under newly introduced legislation, motorists can no longer take simply take their new cars home whilst they await registration. As a consequence, car dealers are being forced to stockpile new vehicles until the paperwork can be completed.

The authorities blame the backlog on an unprecedented demand for new vehicles, but there are widespread allegations of corruption within the Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) itself, which have forced the organisation to adopt a brand new registration system. It appears that the KRA's own officials were accused of scams such as registering cars as motor cycles in order to save taxes.

Kenyan number plates are all manufactured in prison factories. But there have been many complaints about the quality of the resulting workmanship. Critics say that neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, the Congo and even Southern Sudan - which has only recently emerged from a war - seem to be able to maintain far higher standards of production.

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