- It made the ruling following numerous cases they received from the members of the public.
- Kimani said the ruling would ensure the youth get the licence to enable them secure employment in the matatu sector.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
Matatu operators will no longer have to produce a certificate of good conduct before they are issued with a PSV licences or any other licence issued by the NTSA.
The Transport Licensing Appeals Board (TLAB) said there is no legal basis to subject the operators to a conditionality of the police clearance certificate.
TLAB is a tribunal under the Judiciary that hears and determines appeals against the licensing decisions of the NTSA.
It made the ruling following numerous cases they received from the members of the public.
This now means Kenyans who have not acquired the licences due to lack of police clearance certificate will be issued with it upon successful application.
The CEO of the TLAB Dr Andrew Kimani said the decision would go a long way in dealing with recidivism, adding that the conditions set before amounted to double jeopardy.
The decision was communicated to the relevant institutions including the Matatu Owners Association on November 9.
“The Tribunal recently made a ruling as per the cases filed and declared that there is no legal basis to subject Matatu operators to a conditionality of the police clearance certificate for them to acquire PSV licences (badge) or any other form of licence issued by NTSA,” Kimani wrote.
“We are therefore requesting you therefore to pass the information to Matatu county chairmen and members and advise them to contact the Tribunal when they are affected or aggrieved."
Kimani said the ruling would ensure the youth get the licence to enable them secure employment in the matatu sector.
In July this year, the tribunal wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations seeking clarity and his opinion on the certificate as a requirement before making a ruling.
The Tribunal sought to know how long it took to clear a person who had been jailed and completed his sentence, how long it takes to expunge the fingerprints from the DCI criminal register and records of a minor committed to a Borstal institution are permanent or cleared after a certain period.
The Tribunal also sought to know whether fingerprints earlier taken are expunged from the records where a suspect has been freed by a court of law by being found not guilty or turned a state witness.
And following the response by the DCI, the Tribunal made the ruling and scrapped the police clearance certificate as one of the requirements.
The issue of certificate of good conduct has been thorny as those seeking employment are required to have them among other documents.
There is a push to scrap the requirement of the documents.