Court orders NTSA, police to release impounded matatus, number plates
Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the High Court in Nairobi issued the ruling after the vehicles, operating on the Nairobi–Rongai, Kiambu Road, Embakasi, and Thika Superhighway routes, were arbitrarily impounded.
The High Court has ordered the Traffic Police and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to surrender registration plates and 31 matatus impounded for having graffiti and tinted windows.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the High Court in Nairobi issued the ruling after the vehicles, operating on the Nairobi–Rongai, Kiambu Road, Embakasi, and Thika Superhighway routes, were arbitrarily impounded.
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The public service vehicles (PSVs) were seized on January 21, 2025, with some having their registration plates removed, rendering them inoperable and forcing owners to park them.
Additionally, the operators were in dispute with the NTSA and Traffic Police over bumpers and screens installed inside the vehicles.
The PSV operators, represented by lawyer Danstan Omari, sued the Traffic Police and NTSA, alleging that they had been subjected to excessive, inordinate, unwarranted, and unjustified crackdowns, leading to frantic NTSA searches that resulted in the seizure of their matatus.
The transporters, under the Nganya Association, informed the High Court that the NTSA had continued to withhold their registration plates long after they had complied with NTSA regulations and undergone inspections by the agency’s staff.
They urged the court to order the release of their vehicles and number plates, allowing them to resume operations while their case against the two institutions was being heard unless the vehicles were being held under a court order from a competent jurisdiction.
"Pending the hearing and determination of the application dated January 28, 2025, a conservatory order is hereby issued directing (Traffic Police and NTSA) jointly to return the applicants' registration number plates to the (operators') motor vehicles and to also release all motor vehicles impounded by them which belong to the applicants," the order reads in part.
Justice Mwamuye ordered the PSV operators of the stylish matatus under the Nganya Association to serve their petition to the police and NTSA with the court orders on Monday and provide proof of service to the court on 4 February.
Upon being served, the Traffic Police and NTSA are required to respond to the PSV operators’ petition by close of business on 14 February.
The PSV operators petitioned the High Court to prevent the two institutions from further interfering with their vehicles, claiming that since January 21, 2025, they had been subjected to unjustified crackdowns, frequent NTSA inspections, and vehicle impoundments.
"The crackdowns after January 21 have been extremely punitive and discriminatory, particularly at the inspection centre, where the nature and details of the inspections vary depending on vehicle ownership and connections to influential individuals," the application states.
The transport operators informed the court that they had incurred substantial financial losses due to their stalled vehicles, which serve as their primary source of income.
Furthermore, the petitioners stated that their efforts to fundraise and secure the release of their vehicles had been futile, as the authorities had refused to listen to their concerns, despite the vehicles having operated on the same roads for a long time, "conveniently unnoticed" in previous crackdowns.
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