The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has clarified that permanently damaged or scrapped vehicles are removed from its records through a deregistration process initiated by their owners.The clarification came after a member of the public questioned why NTSA does not remove crashed vehicles from its system, arguing that the authority should be aware of vehicles that are no longer operational.“Why doesn't NTSA remove crashed cars from its system? I am sure they know about it,” the online user questioned.In response, NTSA said on Friday, September 18, that vehicles are removed from its records through individual deregistration to ensure non-operational vehicles do not remain active in the national registry."This is done through the deregistration process, which is initiated by the owner," the authority clarified.The clarification comes amid concerns about the accuracy of Kenya’s vehicle database, particularly the status of vehicles involved in accidents or permanently taken off the road.NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa raised similar concerns in June 2026, noting that the Authority lacked an exact figure for vehicles actively operating on Kenyan roads.He noted that permanently damaged vehicles may remain in the government's official database if their owners do not complete the required deregistration process.“We do not know the number of vehicles on our roads, because since we started registering vehicles, we do not deregister them; they die, they use them to make other metals,” said Kondiwa during an interview on NTV.The national vehicle registry contains more than 6 million records, but a 2022 data-cleaning exercise identified gaps in the accuracy and completeness of some vehicle records.The gaps have also raised security concerns over the possible misuse of inactive vehicle registration details through cloned number plates.Kondiwa warned that criminals could exploit the gaps by importing vehicles and assigning them number plates linked to vehicles that are no longer actively operating.What happens is that other people come with vehicles from neighboring countries, pick number plates from the damaged vehicles and put them on the unregistered vehicles,” he added.Nonetheless, NTSA recently introduced the electronic Logbook, as part of efforts to improve the security and accuracy of vehicle records.Introduced on June 10, the eLogbook system integrates vehicle registration processes while improving access to reliable data for traffic enforcement, insurance verification, and road safety.
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