NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 21 – The Senate has annulled a set of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) regulations that sought to tighten vehicle inspection and safety requirements for school transport, commercial vehicles and other motorists.

📻 Breaking It Down

The decision revokes three legal notices published earlier this year that introduced new standards for vehicle inspections, school transport operations and commercial vehicle regulation, after lawmakers found fault with the regulations and their implementation.

The annulled regulations included the Traffic (School Transport) Rules, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 11), the Traffic (Motor Vehicle Inspection) Rules, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 13) and the NTSA (Operation of Commercial Vehicles) Regulations, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 14).

The regulations had proposed sweeping changes to the transport sector by requiring school vehicles to carry safety equipment such as seat belts, fire extinguishers and vehicle tracking systems, while introducing stricter qualifications for drivers, attendants and crossing guards.

📌 What You Need to Know

They also sought to overhaul the country’s vehicle inspection regime by making annual inspections mandatory for public service vehicles, commercial vehicles, government fleets and driving school vehicles, alongside pre-registration inspections for newly assembled commercial and school vehicles.

Commercial vehicle operators would also have been required to install telematics systems, speed governors and underride protection devices, while complying with new driver working-hour limits and safety training requirements.

The Senate’s decision follows sustained concerns from transport stakeholders who argued that some of the requirements were costly to implement and had been introduced without adequate public participation or sufficient transition periods.

“The Senate has exercised its constitutional oversight role to ensure that regulations affecting businesses and the public comply with the law and are subjected to adequate stakeholder consultation. While road safety remains a national priority, new compliance obligations must be practical, proportionate and legally sound,” the Senate said.

The annulment comes months after the NTSA had already suspended enforcement of some of the most contentious provisions following industry backlash.

School transport operators had been exempted from penalties relating to the installation of reflectorized red stop mechanical signal arms and telematic systems, while commercial vehicle operators were similarly granted relief from mandatory telematics requirements pending further review.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya