With one day to go, jittery second-hand car importers stare at losses

Motor vehicle importers face the risk of losing millions of shillings as the December 31 cut-off date for units assembled eight years ago nears.

This means that cars manufactured in 2017 will not be allowed into the Kenyan market after tomorrow (Tuesday). 

The Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) has raised fears that a number of ships that were expected to dock at the port of Mombasa have been delayed due logistical issues, including attacks by Houthi rebels at the Red Sea, which forced vessels ferrying their vehicles to take longer alternative routes.

CIAK chairman Peter Otieno is now asking the government to consider this and allow clearing of vehicles that were inspected before the deadline.

“We are asking Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to respect the agreement we had with them, which we believe still stands, and allow all cars that were cleared on time but were delayed due to logistical issues,” said Mr Otieno.

In November this year, Kebs issued guidelines under the eight-year rule that locks out old cars (for 2017 manufactured units) from being shipped into Kenya past the December 31 deadline.

The regulator has maintained that cars failing to meet this deadline will be turned away at the importer’s expense.

However, Mr Otieno said at least three vessels were expected to dock before January 10, and might face clearance hurdles if Kebs does not relax the rule.

“If not, we will move to court to compel the government to consider the request to avert more losses,” said Mr Otieno.

Attacks by Houthi militants led to re-routing of shipments, pushing vessels to navigate away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope, adding more than 13 days to the logistics schedule.