The High Court in Kiambu has temporarily suspended the implementation and enforcement of key provisions of the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026, dealing a major blow to the National Transport and Safety Authority’s (NTSA) plan to introduce mandatory annual inspections for private vehicles.
In orders issued on July 1, 2026, Justice Francis Nyungu Kyambia certified as urgent a constitutional petition filed by Wilberforce Akello against the NTSA, the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport and other respondents.
The court granted conservatory orders suspending the operation and enforcement of Rule 3(1), Rule 12(2), Rule 16(4), Rule 30(1)(d), and the First Schedule of the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026, to the extent that they apply to private non-commercial vehicles.
Justice Kyambia also suspended the implementation of NTSA’s public notice dated June 26, 2026, which required owners of private non-commercial vehicles to undergo mandatory annual inspections under the new regulations.
The orders mean that the mandatory inspection requirement for private vehicles cannot be enforced until the court hears and determines the application.
The petition was filed under a certificate of urgency, with the petitioner challenging the legality and constitutionality of the new inspection regime. The court directed the petitioner to serve the petition, application and the court orders on all respondents within seven days.
The respondents have been given 14 days from the date of service to file and serve their responses, together with written submissions opposing the application. Justice Kyambia further directed that the application will be heard inter partes on July 22, 2026.
The conservatory orders suspending the impugned regulations will remain in force pending the inter partes hearing, effectively preventing NTSA from enforcing the mandatory inspection requirements for private non-commercial vehicles in the meantime.
The case is filed as HCCHR PET/E066/2026: Wilberforce Akello v National Transport and Safety Authority, Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport & Others, and challenges the legality of the new motor vehicle inspection rules introduced through Legal Notice No. 13 of 2026.
