Kenya new license plateAn auto rickshaw with the current Kenyan licence plate in Nairobi
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. The older series of number plates were black with white or silver lettering. Later in the older series the front plates were reflective white with black lettering and the rear plates were reflective yellow with black lettering. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics there are over 1,626,380 vehicles in Kenyan road as at 2011.[1]
1920-1989
A 1950-1989 series Kenyan (K) Nairobi (K) license plate from October (X) 1967
It is not known when the first vehicle was registered in Kenya, but it is thought to be before 1920. Single letters were attributed to each of the 14 registration districts i.e. N=Kiambu, E=Kisumu, J=Kitale, B, H, T, W=Nairobi, A=Mombasa, C=Nakuru, D=Kericho, F=Eldoret, G=Nyeri, K=Muranga (Fort Hall), L=Kisii, Q=Machakos, S=Lamu, V=Isiolo, Y=Nanyuki. A serial number of 1-999 followed, on white on black plates, save for public transport vehicles, ie buses, taxis and hire cars, which used black on white.
The 1950 K-prefix series was a change to a three-letter numbering system, necessitated by the increasing number of vehicles being registered. It was introduced on a regional basis as follow;[2]
All plates began with K, followed by the regional code (below) and a serial letter A-Z, not using letters I or O.
Nairobi - KB (1950), KF (1955), KG (1959), KH (1961), KK (1965), KM (1968), KN (1970), KP (1972), KQ (1974), KR (1976) and KV (1978)
Mombasa - KA (1950), KJ (1966), KT (1977)
Nakuru - KC (1950), KL (1967), KS (1977)
Kisumu - KD (1950), KU (1977)
Nanyuki - KE
Other number were issued
Some KC and KL numbers were issued to Eldoret and Kitale.
KBA was issued to Nyeri, the first Nairobi number being KBB. Nyeri then followed with KFE and KGT.
Kericho was issued with KDB then KDK which were used up to 1969.
Kisii was issued with KDE then shared KDK with Kericho.
Kakamega used KDL between 1962 and 1967.
The numbering system was centralised in 1980 and after that date all Kenya numbers are in sequence. Between 1980 and 1984 the unused numbers from Nakuru (KS), Mombasa (KT) and Kisumu (KU) were issued, KW (1984) being the first number that was never used regionally.
1989-2007
After the registration of vehicle KZZ 999, the second generation was started in 1989.[3] 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. KAF, KAO, KAI were omitted.
2007-2014
After the registration of vehicle KAZ 999Z, the third generation was started in 2007 as KBA 001A.[4] The series ran from KBA 001A to KBZ 999Z
In 2014, the government announced a revamp of the registration plates to a new look, featuring electronic chips [5]
2014-2020
After the registration of vehicle KBZ 999Z, the fourth generation was started in 2014 as KCA 001A. The series ran from KCA 001A to KCZ 999Z
2020-Present
New Kenyan license plates launched in August 2022
After the registration of vehicle KCZ 999Z, the fifth generation was started in early 2020 with KDA 001A. The series will run from KDA 001A to KDZ 999Z.
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. The plates also include an imprinted Kenyan Flag, a hologram, watermark and a serial number linked to the vehicle chassis number.
Special plates
There are other number sequences that are used in Kenya.
The Kenyan Government uses GK;
The Kenyan County Governments use CG, for example Nairobi County vehicles are 47 CG;
Governors use GVN followed by their county code;
The Speaker of National Assembly uses SNA;
The Speaker of the Senate uses SS;
The Chief Justice uses CJ;
Kenya Army - KA;
Kenya Air Force - KAF;
Kenya Navy - KN;
Kenya Agricultural Institute - KAI;
Diplomats use N CD and they are red plates with white letters and numbers;
Parastatals use blue plates with white letters and numbers
Motorcycles now use KMCA series;
Heavy Machinery uses "KHMA" series;
Tricycle uses KTWC series.
NGO - KX;
Vehicle Dealers Number plate series - KG. The plates have green background with white letters.
Diplomatic and United Nations codes
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.
As of 2008, the diplomatic / UN sequence assignation was as below: [6]
