Nairobi News

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen who has been criticized for making recently an impromptu visit to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) headquarters, on Monday defended his move saying that he has been patient with the authority.

In a statement on September 25, 2023, the influential CS says the visit was provoked by numerous complaints by Kenyans over the slow processing of driving licenses, logbooks, and new digital number plates.

Murkomen, who is a close ally of President Willian Ruto, added that even though some people were not happy with his approach, it needed to be done.

He stressed that he had no wish to micromanage ministry officials but hoped his actions will restore order and service delivery at the transport authority.

“Everything will be sorted in the next two weeks. I have been patient with the institution but I had to press the reset button. I hope the move will restore sanity. It’s not my wish to micromanage but rebooting the system is my job,” he explained in a social media post.

During the visit which sparked discussions on social media, the CS revealed the driving license printing machine had barely for months, leading to a backlog of half a million unprinted driving licenses.

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He also acknowledged the absence of digital systems made it impossible for customers to know where and when to collect their number plates.

“I have given NTSA two weeks to clear this backlog, notify Kenyans of their nearest collection points, and put in place the necessary mechanisms to speed up the turnaround time for processing and issuance of DLs, logbooks, and digital number plates,” he said.

The CS further gave the institution and the printing company seven days to send a full report on the reason for the delays and measures they had taken to resolve the issues.

This is because some of the applications were submitted over one year ago and are yet to be processed despite their time limit being fourteen working days.

Murkomen vowed to ensure that Kenyans receive their documents in due time failure to which the officers involved will be held accountable.

“I will spare no effort in dismantling existing cartels who are perpetuating corruption in these institutions and pushing the Agencies, within my Ministry, who are responsible for dispensing critical services to Kenyans to do so professionally, transparently, and expeditiously,” he said.

The CS promised to hold the senior management of NTSA personally responsible and accountable for any further delay.