As we had speculated, the date for the expiry of the old number plates and their replacement with new, microchip-equipped ones, set for 31 March, has been extended.
No official statement has been made, but there are two main indications that the time is not yet ripe to complete the transition: the Minister of Transport, Kipchumba Murkomen, has admitted delays in the delivery of the plates that have already been requested, with waits exceeding six months, and at the same time he has asked the managers of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), i.e. Kenya's civil motor vehicle authority, to speed up the paperwork for delivery, postponing the next check by two weeks. In reality, there are many issues on the tables and in the NTSA's terminals, concerning another digital switchover in progress, that of national driving licences. Not to mention that, precisely because of the transition of number plates, many car owners have realised (or already knew) that their licences are not regular, or had not yet been transferred from the old owner. This caused further delays, flooding the telematics system and piling up folders on desks.

Add to this the ever-living temptation of the clerks to pass on anyone who offers them a 'chai' (in Swahili this would be tea, but it is clear that something else is meant, namely the equally euphemistic 'kitu kidogo' i.e. 'a small thing'), and the biblical times are packed.
The second clue is the employees' answer to our question about a new expiry date, i.e. 'we don't know, but we should send the request'.
So this is our advice, to anyone who owns a Kenyan-registered vehicle: submit the application anyway through the Ecitizen portal, on the NTSA's application page.
We would like to remind you that in order to do this, you need to have your registration book in order, your PIN number and an ID card or Alien Card number (the ID card for foreigners that is not issued to tourists today).
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