The High Court is set to determine whether the government's new mandatory motor vehicle inspection regime will take effect on July 1 after Nairobi lawyer and human rights defender Charles Mugane filed a constitutional petition seeking to suspend the regulations.
In an urgent application lodged before the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, Mugane is asking the court to issue conservatory orders halting the implementation of the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026, arguing that they were enacted in violation of the Constitution.
The petition, filed against the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the Attorney General, names the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Katiba Institute and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) as interested parties.
According to court documents, the regulations require all privately owned motor vehicles older than four years to undergo annual inspections from July 1, 2026. They also introduce inspection fees, mandatory inspection stickers and penalties for motorists who fail to comply.
Mugane argues that the regulations were gazetted without meaningful public participation, contrary to Article 10 of the Constitution.
"The respondents failed to conduct adequate public participation before gazetting Legal Notice No. 13 of 2026, thereby violating the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability and public involvement," the petition states.
The lawyer further challenges the inspection fees, saying NTSA has not disclosed how the charges were determined, and questions the requirement that payments be made exclusively through the eCitizen platform, citing concerns over transparency and accountability.
He also argues that the regulations impose punitive sanctions, including fines and imprisonment of up to six months for certain offences, exposing motorists to arbitrary enforcement.
"Unless this Honourable Court intervenes, the implementation of the impugned regulations will occasion irreparable harm to millions of motorists and render this petition nugatory," Mugane says in his application.
The petitioner further contends that the new inspection regime is primarily designed to raise revenue rather than enhance road safety, contrary to its stated objective.
Among the final orders sought, Mugane wants the High Court to declare the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026, unconstitutional, quash Legal Notice No. 13 of 2026 and award him the costs of the petition.
The matter is expected to be placed before a judge for directions on the application for conservatory orders before the new inspection rules are scheduled to come into force on July 1.
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