In Kenya, all vehicle owners must have a number plate that is issued upon registration by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

The purpose of the number plates is to identify the owner of the vehicle. The types of number plates issued in Kenya vary depending on the group function of a vehicle.

This explains why Civilian Vehicle Number Plates, County Government Vehicles, Motorbikes, Tuktuk, and Diplomatic Number Plates have varying appearances.

The vehicles used for government operations use the GKA, GKB, and GKC number plates. Government number plates are used to give public servants the advantage of preferential treatment while driving, as they are for official use only.

According to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the corresponding alphabetical letters following [GK] are a category of series designated during registration.

NTSA explained that the series is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis and does not necessarily belong to a specific state department.

“It’s just a registration number,” NTSA noted adding that the series are expending and soon, Kenyans will see other denominations such as a GKD on government vehicles.

The government number plates are used as a way to monitor the locations of government vehicles to ensure they are being used legitimately.

The other types of number plates you need to know are:

Pay Sh. 3,000 for new number plates or pay Sh. 20,000 fine

Civilian Vehicle Number Plates

These are the common vehicles on Kenyan roads, commonly used by ordinary citizens. Their number plates are white at the front and yellow at the back, and all have a black colour on the letters.

The numbering begins with K.. written in black against a white or yellow background.

Diplomatic Number Plate

These are specific vehicles belonging to foreign embassies based in Kenya. The number plates are written in white color against a red background.

Motorbikes and Tuktuk

Their number plates have a yellow background written with four letter plates black in color.

Customized Number Plate

Vehicle owners can customize number plates by their names at a fee paid to NTSA. It costs up to 1 million Kenyan Shillings to make a customized number plate with a unique name on it.

County Government Vehicles

These are vehicles used for county operations.Their number plates format includes a County Code, and a CG (County Government) followed by three numbers and one letter. For instance: 47 CG 456A