The vehicle registration plates in Kenya have evolved significantly over the years. Understanding the system requires a look at its history, formats, and special categories.
Historical Overview
While the exact date of the first vehicle registration in Kenya remains unknown, there is strong speculation that it occurred before 1920. The older series of number plates were black with white or silver lettering.
During this period, before 1989, each letter on the license plate was assigned to a specific district among the 14 available. Here's a list of the districts and their corresponding single letter codes:
- A = Mombasa
- B, H, T, W = Nairobi
- C = Nakuru
- D = Kericho
- E = Kisumu
- F = Eldoret
- G = Nyeri
- J = Kitale
- K = Muranga (Fort Hall)
- L = Kisii
- N = Kiambu
- Q = Machakos
- S = Lamu
- V = Isiolo
- Y = Nanyuki
This was followed by a serial number ranging from 1 to 999. These plates featured white lettering on a black background, except for public transport vehicles.
The 1950 K-prefix series was a change to a three-letter numbering system, necessitated by the increasing number of vehicles being registered. KBA was issued to Nyeri, the first Nairobi number being KBB.
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The numbering system was centralized in 1980 and began to follow a sequential sequence.
Modern License Plate Formats
License Plates: A History
The format of vehicle license plates in Kenya is quite similar to the UK registration plates. The current series of vehicle registration plates in Kenya are on a white plate with black lettering and look quite similar to UK suffix style registrations. The format is LLL NNNL, where ‘L’ denotes a letter and ‘N’ denotes a digit.
In 1989, the second generation of number plates was introduced after reaching KZZ 999. The series follow KAA 001A to KAZ 999Z The present KAA xxx A series had, the advantage being that each third letter of the number provided for 23,976 registrations instead of the previous 999. Hence for the series to be finished about 575424 vehicle will be registered. After the registration of vehicle KBZ 999Z, the fourth generation was started in 2014 as KCA 001A.
After the registration of vehicle KCZ 999Z, the fifth generation was started in early 2020 with KDA 001A.
Special License Plates
Vehicle Dealers Number plate series - KD, while assemblers and fabricators use KG.
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Electric Vehicles
In March 2024, the government of Kenya unveiled a new series of license plates that will be used by owners of electric vehicles and electric motorcycles. These place will have a white font on a green background. The reason behind this is to help in identifying electric vehicles and motorcycles. This is an effort by the Kenyan government to promote green economy in the transport industry. The new license plates will start from EVA 001A for electric vehicles and EMAA 001A for electric motorcycles.
Diplomatic Plates
The diplomatic number given to the embassies were assigned in the order that they recognized Kenya's independence, with Germany (then West Germany) as the first country to recognize Kenya's independence having the diplomatic plate 1 CD. For example, the sequence might look like 1CD1AK, 1CD2AK...1CD999AK. Diplomats: N CD, as per UN sequence designation. Here are a few examples:
- 1 CD - Germany (e.g., sequence 1CD1AK, 1CD2AK...1CD999AK...)
- 57 CD - D.R.
Recent Developments
A new look of the Vehicle registration Plates was launched in August 2022. These new plates incorporate microchip technology, various anti-counterfeit features and a FE-Schrift font.
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