NTSA to spend Sh2bn to revamp inspection centres

The transport agency will spend Sh2 billion in modernising 17 inspection centres in a bid to end corruption and improve efficiency.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Friday said they had embarked on digitising operations to eliminate brokers.

"The equipment we have at most inspection centres are obsolete. We will purchase equipment that will accurately detect problems in any vehicle," Eng Gerald Wangai, the Director of Motor Vehicle Inspection, said at Green Hills Hotel in Nyeri County during a stakeholders' meeting to discuss the review of inspection rates.

CORRUPTION
The agency noted that with digitisation, drivers will not be required to display a certificate of inspection on their windshields.

"The owner will receiving the report on his account which he can access on the phone. They will know if the car passed on failed and the reasons why the vehicle did not pass," Eng Wangai said.

In the past motorists have complained of congestion and blatant corruption at the inspection facilities.

The activity has begun at Likoni and Mombasa centres and will proceed to Nakuru, Embu, Kiambu and Nyeri counties.

REVENUE
Eng Wangai said vehicle owners should open an account with the e-citizen, through which the agency will send the inspection reports.

This way, he said, owners will not be duped by their employees or brokers.

The new system will ensure processing is done in less than 30 minutes.

The agency currently inspects 400,000 vehicles a year, collecting at least Sh4 million in revenue.