How fake number plates are easy to acquire

Forging a car number plate in Nairobi is, surprisingly, an easy, fast and cheap affair; easier than buying secondhand clothes at a roadside stall on Kirinyaga Road.

And as the Daily Nation found out, it is no secret — not the underworld type you would imagine. It took just under 30 minutes and Sh600 to have the number plate of one of the vehicles belonging to Nation Media Group replicated.

Our first hint, ironically, came from one tasked to fight fakes in the country. An officer at the Anti-Counterfeiting Authority (ACA) easily guided us to where we could get one without breaking a sweat: Kirinyaga Road, just behind the Shell petrol station.

A morning walk into downtown Nairobi is not for the fainthearted. One has to contend with the noise, the dust and fast-moving motorcycles with the occasional blaring horn.

It doesn’t take long to spot the mechanics paraded at the Kirinyaga/Voi road junction, donning oily overalls and scanning the scene.

One of them listens to me and calls another one, popularly known as “Professor”, who also keenly listens, but interrupts the explanation to bring three finished samples that look authentic.

Prices vary with client specifications — including whether it is embossed or not and if the chip that security cameras use for automatic number plate recognition is included. The costly chip is easily obtained from accident cars.

“I learnt the trade from the government itself; you know where the original number plates are made, don’t you? So if I tell you to pay Sh5,000, just know I’m giving you something authentic. You are not a thug; so, I’m sure you don’t want to hide. But if you want that, we will make it here as well,” the 'Professor' said in backstreet jargon, albeit with a glint of suspicion (he had a little doubt that I was a company driver in the city who needed to replace a damaged number plate before the owners realise).

Another mechanic, noticing our likely disagreement, pulls me aside and suggests that 'Professor' is just being too expensive because he learnt the art while in prison. He tells me that he, too, is an expert and has made several plates.

We quickly agree on the price and that it will be ready in 30 minutes. He notes down the number: KBW 390G.

True Caller displays his name as ‘FBI’. A young, slender, tall man with a strange smile on a narrow face. 

Twenty-six minutes later, I call FBI to confirm the progress. He says the job is done; he’s just waiting for me. He brings it as soon as we meet amidst secondhand clothes traders. FBI carries the plate openly, speaks loudly and has no problem giving me escort.

“We have made so many of these,” he says. “Some of them are just duplications because if you have this number plate in Lamu and another vehicle operating between Busia and Kakamega has a similar one, where will the two meet?”

He added: “You go and use that but if you want sophisticated ones just call me and send money; I will deliver them.”

Public service vehicles form the biggest pool of the clientele because they have route restrictions, thus limiting the chance of vehicles with identical plates being found together.

In October 2013, however, two car owners parked their cars in a garage in Eldoret only to realise that they had identical number plates.