Economy

Transporters appose second-hand trucks, buses importation ban

trucks

Trucks along the northern corridor in Busia County. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Kenyan transporters have protested the government’s decision to ban the importation of second-hand buses and trucks.

Salim Karama, one of the transporters, said the ban by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) will encourage more companies to shift their base to other East African countries where such policies do not apply.

“The shift by the government to ban importation of trucks not more than 8-years to three years and further banning them altogether will make the trucks more expensive and will increase from the current Sh5.5 million to more than Sh16 million. This will make them unaffordable to many transporters, causing them either to close their shop or move to countries where such policies do not apply,” said Mr Karama.

Former Kenya Transporters Association executive director Dennis Ombok blamed the government for introducing such a policy without involving key stakeholders such as transporters.

Arbitrary decision

“There is no objective to lower the age limit of long-distance trucks from eight to three while the age limit of all other vehicles remains eight years. The decision is arbitrary,” said Mr Ombok.

He added: “The unilateral decision by Kenya offends the protocol of the East Africa region concerning the transport sector where uniformity of rules and laws is a requirement and we shall have Ugandan and Tanzanian companies importing trucks which will ply our roads using current requirements”.

The move could be disruptive for dealers in used vehicles but is a boom for the local auto assembly industry.

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