Jubilee Party deputy leader and presidential hopeful Fred Matiang'i has strongly opposed the government's planned mandatory annual vehicle inspections, which would cost motorists Sh2,000 per vehicle. In a detailed statement issued on Sunday, he demanded that the rollout be halted immediately, arguing that the policy was developed with minimal public engagement and lacks the necessary transparency.

While Matiang'i acknowledged that improving road safety is a critical national goal—one that all Kenyans support—he insisted that the process leading to such a far-reaching decision must be open, evidence-based, and sensitive to the economic hardships citizens are currently facing. He criticized the government for failing to demonstrate that the inspections would meaningfully reduce accidents, warning that the policy appears more like a revenue-generating scheme than a genuine safety measure.

The former Interior Cabinet Secretary painted a grim picture of the existing financial strain on Kenyan households and businesses, pointing to skyrocketing fuel prices, multiple overlapping taxes, rising insurance premiums, costly spare parts, parking fees, licensing charges, and an overall high cost of living. Against this backdrop, he argued, introducing yet another compulsory annual payment—without clear justification—would place an unbearable burden on citizens who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Matiang'i further framed the issue as a constitutional matter, asserting that public power must always be exercised reasonably, proportionately, and in the genuine public interest. He warned that citizens should not be treated merely as sources of government revenue, and called on the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to respond to a series of critical questions before any implementation proceeds. He wants to know how many active private vehicles will be affected by the policy and how much revenue the government expects to collect annually from the inspections. He also demands that NTSA produce concrete evidence demonstrating that annual inspections for vehicles older than four years will significantly reduce road crashes, and he has questioned what proportion of accidents are actually caused by mechanical defects as opposed to human error, poor road infrastructure, or traffic congestion. Additionally, he has asked whether NTSA currently has enough inspection centers and staff to serve millions of motorists efficiently without causing long delays or creating opportunities for bribery and corruption, and he wants to know what safeguards are in place to prevent the program from becoming another avenue for harassment and rent-seeking by officials.

Matiang'i urged Parliament to subject the policy to immediate scrutiny and compel NTSA to table all supporting data, including cost-benefit analyses and implementation plans. He called on all Kenyans to reject the policy in its current form and demand a transparent, affordable, and truly evidence-based road safety framework that protects both lives and livelihoods—not one that merely adds to their financial distress.