The High Court has temporarily suspended the implementation and enforcement of mandatory annual inspection requirements for private non-commercial vehicles under the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026.
Justice Francis Nyungu Kyambia issued the conservatory orders on July 1, 2026, after certifying as urgent a petition and application filed by Wilberforce Akello challenging the legality and constitutionality of the new inspection framework.
"That a conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the operation and enforcement of Rules 3(1), Rule 12(2), Rule 16(4), Rule 30(1)(d) and the First Schedule of the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 13 of 2026) in so far and to the extent that it applies to private non-commercial vehicles, the judge ruled.
The court also suspended an NTSA notice published on June 26, 2026, that had required annual inspection of private non-commercial vehicles.
The conservatory orders will remain in force pending an inter partes hearing scheduled for July 22, 2026.
The petition challenges the inspection regime that was due to take effect from July 1, arguing that it would immediately subject millions of private motorists to mandatory compliance obligations, financial costs and possible criminal sanctions.
According to court documents, Rule 3(1) introduced compulsory annual inspections for privately owned motor vehicles more than four years old from the date of manufacture.
The petitioner argued that because Kenya’s vehicle market is largely made up of imported second-hand vehicles, the rules would affect a significant majority of private vehicle owners.
The petition further questioned the financial structure surrounding the implementation of the framework.
Court documents indicate that the First Schedule introduced a mandatory booking fee payable to NTSA in addition to inspection fees charged by inspection centres, while licensing fees for private inspection centres ranged from Sh300,000 to Sh1 million depending on county cluster.
The petitioner argued that despite projected collections running into billions of shillings annually, the government had not disclosed the legal and financial framework governing collection, custody and use of the funds.
The petition raised constitutional concerns under Articles 201, 206 and 210 relating to transparency, accountability and management of public finances.
Wilberforce also challenged criminal sanctions introduced under Rule 30(1), which provides penalties linked to non-compliance.
"Conviction attracts a fine not exceeding Sh20,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both," the petition states.
Further, the petition argued that the rules create indirect discrimination by disproportionately affecting owners of older vehicles, who are more likely to belong to lower and middle-income households.
The court documents also questioned NTSA’s earlier public communication indicating private vehicle inspections would not immediately be enforced despite the rules remaining in force.
The orders come a day after the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) announced that it had suspended mandatory enforcement of annual inspections for private vehicles.
The agency stated that implementation would only proceed once sufficient inspection centres are established across the country.
“Inspections begin almost immediately from July 1. If you want to bring your vehicle for inspection, you can bring it to NTSA inspection centres,” NTSA director general Nashon Kondiwa said.
“The mandatory requirement is what we will postpone until we have enough inspection centres. We intend to have 47 inspection centres by December this year,” he said.
