• The 300 importers said vehicle multinationals in the country are using the back door to kick them out of business
• The current law only allows the importation of eight-year-old vehicles and below
Image: FILE
Importers have said their vehicles are superior to locally assembled cars.
Speaking at the Kenya Bureau of Standards yesterday, the 300 importers said vehicle multinationals in the country are using the back door to kick them out of business.
They also dismissed the age limit draft policy, which demands that only vehicles that are five years old and below will be imported from July, and a further reduction to zero years in 2022.
The current law only allows the importation of eight-year-old vehicles and below.
“They should not lie to Kenyans and President Uhuru Kenyatta that we have vehicle manufacturers yet they are only assemblers using the old Euro II technology. Everything is imported and fixed together here when other countries are on Euro VI,” Car Importers Association of Kenya chairman Peter Otieno said.
They said local assemblers are using old technology based on Euro II standards while theirs have embraced the Euro V, which is a hybrid system.
“Euro V (Approval 2010) is a hybrid system that embraces modern gadgets and leads to less pollution and eases the maintenance as compared to the Euro II (Approved in 1998), which is being wiped out in other developed nations,” Kenya Autobazar Association secretary general Peterson Waweru said.
They said the draft policy on car importation will wipe out 2.5 million jobs if passed.
“They know what they are doing is wrong and they have lied to the president that they are creating jobs,”Kaba chairman John Kipchumba said.
Otieno added that the government wants to ban cheap vehicles to maximize selling the expensive ones in the country, yet the cars are below the desired international quality.
“We will not allow officials in government to push for their selfish interests and destroy our livelihoods. If they do not toe the line, we move to the next step and it will not be business as usual,” Waweru said.
According to the traders, the eight-year importation age limit in place is good as it has restricted them to bring Euro 5 standard vehicles into the country.
Kipchumba added that the government should concentrate more on the standard of vehicles and shun the age limit issue since locally assembled vehicles are below the required international standards thus polluting the environment more than the imported vehicles.
Car importers said if locally manufactured vehicles will be of Euro V and above standards, they would fairly compete with the importers in the market as buyers will focus on quality regardless of importation or local manufacturing.