The government is set to introduce an ‘end of life’ regulation that will require worn-out vehicles to undergo formal inspection and be issued a ‘death certificate’, effectively authorising their decommissioning, disassembly and recycling.
The announcement was made by Dr. Juma Mukhwana, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Industry, during a keynote address at the Kenya International Investment Conference held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi on Friday, 27th March 2026.
“In the NTSA database there are about 400,000 cars that do not exist on the road”, said PS Mukhwana. “We are therefore coming up with new end of life regulations and policies which will enable cars to be inspected and given a death certificate so that they can be disassembled and recycled to be used for different purpose.”
Kenya currently registers between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles annually, the majority of which are imported used cars.
The high volume of second-hand vehicle imports has long raised concerns about road safety, environmental impact and the difficulty of tracking vehicle lifecycles through to retirement.
The domestic regulation dovetails with broader regional efforts.
Dr. Mukhwana revealed that Kenya is working with fellow East African Community (EAC) member states to operationalise the East African Automotive Assembly & Manufacturing regulations, which are expected to come into force on 1st July 2026.
The regional framework covers motor vehicle and motorcycle assembly across all East African Community member states, signalling a coordinated push to modernise and formalise the region’s automotive sector.
The proposed end-of-life vehicle policy represents a significant step in Kenya’s effort to promote a circular economy in the transport sector and improve the accuracy of national vehicle records.
Further details on implementation timelines and the institutional framework for issuing decommissioning certificates are expected to be released in the coming months.
