The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has no control over the recently rolled out Transport Integrated Management System (TIMS), which it uses to manage various transport-related services such as vehicle registration and transfer of ownership, exposing it to revenue leakages and data breaches.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has revealed that NTSA workers have limited access to the system’s functionalities, despite the state agency paying Sh186 million for the new online portal. The Auditor-General, however, doesn’t specify the private firm that developed the system and has full control over it.
“The new system was commissioned in March 2023, for which the authority has no control, as there was no contract for adoption of the system and the system has been migrated to e-citizen,” said Ms Gathungu in NTSA’s audit report for the year to June 2024.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
TIMS is the online platform that handles key services including vehicle registration, inspections, and driver licensing in Kenya. It facilitates application, payments, and generation of a number of documents, which traditionally required Kenyans to physically visit NTSA offices.
Documents that can be accessed through the system include provisional and interim driving licenses, a soft copy of the driving license, vehicle log books, and inspection certificates, among others.
The Auditor-General reveals that despite facilitating all the processes and enabling online payments, NTSA could “not generate a comprehensive report on all applications made and expected revenues.”
“TIMS access rights provided to the authority user departments did not allow for the generation and export of comprehensive transactional reports for licensing and vehicle registrations,” said Ms Gathungu.
"NTSA users of the licensing and motor vehicle registration departments have limitations in the current access levels to meet their reporting requirements. The employees can only access and produce highly summarized reports for licensing and vehicle registration," she added.
The period to June 2024 was the second financial year when the system was operational, and the auditor notes that NTSA did not make any improvements towards increasing its control.
NTSA director-general George Njao speaks at Mercure Hotel Nairobi, during the sector’s stakeholders’ meeting on May 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
“In the circumstances, the value for money incurred on the system could not be confirmed,” said Ms Gathungu.
This revelation follows a similar one by the Auditor-General that the government has no control over the e-citizen platform, through which Kenyans access over 5,000 government services and pay an average of Sh350 million daily to the State.
Ms Gathungu said the state’s lack of full control of the system exposes it to revenue leakages and lack of accountability.
