Court dismisses Okiya Omtatah's case against NTSA new number plates tender

In the case, Omtata argued that the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) acted unconstitutionally by awarding a direct tender for the supply of the new number plates to M/S Chalbi Industries Limited, despite the fact that equipment to locally produce the new vehicle registration numbers had already been procured and was lying idle at the Kamiti Main Prison Industry.

"This tender was awarded to Tropical Technology Limited, which signed the contract on April 4, 2014. The requisitioned and delivered machines were namely: two embossing machines and tools, two hot stamping machines and one pneumatic press machine. Once the prisons personnel were trained on the use of these machines they were then commissioned at Kamiti Prison," Omtata submitted in Court.

"The Petitioner takes issue with the direct procurement as is both unreasonable and wasteful. This is in light of the equipment and machinery that had already been procured in the cited Tenders which costed colossal sums of money and are lying idle at Kamiti Prison. He contends that this is not prudent utilization of public resources and against public interest," the court documents state.

Omtata also challenged the government's requirement that all motorists with old number plates pay Ksh. 3,000 for the new plates, arguing that the new plates should have been issued free of charge.

NTSA Director General George Njao, however, argued that the petition was premature, stating that, contrary to Omtata's allegations, the authority had not engaged Chalbi Industries for the supply of securitized plates.

He maintained that NTSA is legally mandated to enter into contracts for the performance of various functions within the law. In his submission, Njao also condemned Omtata’s challenge to the Ksh. 3,000 charge for the new plates, calling the argument irrational. He explained that NTSA incurs production costs for the plates and, therefore, cannot provide them free of charge.

In dismissing Omtata’s petition, Justice L.N. Mugambi noted that direct procurement does not necessarily make the process unlawful or unconstitutional.

“It (direct procurement) is a lawful method of procuring goods and services as long as the prescribed legal conditions are met and the process is done in good faith. The burden of proving a lack of good faith is on the person that alleges. Bare allegations that the process was undertaken purely to avoid competition without any iota of proof does not suffice to make a finding of bad faith. In the instant case, the Petitioner merely makes an allegation without substantiation,” the judge ruled.

“In the overall analysis and in view of my findings on each of the issues that I have isolated and addressed specifically in this judgment; I do not find any merit in this Petition which I hereby dismiss,” Justice Mugambi concluded.

The second-generation securitized number plates were officially launched on October 1, 2024, by then-Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.