The High Court in Nairobi has barred the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) from phasing out physical vehicle logbooks.
In her ruling yesterday, Justice Patricia Nyaundi directed that the agency should continue accepting physical vehicle ownership documents until the case filed by Javan Onyango is heard and determined.
“Pending the hearing and determination of the Petition, a conservatory order hereby issues restraining the respondents from permanently discontinuing or invalidating existing physical certificates of registration (Logbooks) held by members of the public,” ruled Justice Nyaundi.
Onyango and Kiplagat moved to court after NTSA introduced an electronic logbook dubbed e-logbook. They complained that the authority did not comply with the Constitution while rolling out the virtual ownership documentation.
The two stated that it was impossible to tell how one would create such a document, how it would be verified to be authentic and what process vehicle owners would follow while changing ownership.
According to them, the process was done in a vague manner and against data protection. They insisted that without proper safeguards, Kenyans will be driving thinking they own vehicles, but on paper, they had already been dispossessed with a click of a button.
“Digitising sensitive vehicle‐owner data triggers constitutional privacy protections under Article 31 and statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act. Implementation of a centralized digital ownership platform inevitably entails the large‐scale processing of sensitive personal information and therefore demands heightened safeguards,” the court heard.
They further stated that NTSA had not guaranteed to Kenyans that it had put in place adequate cybersecurity, privacy, operational resilience, disaster recovery, or vulnerability management measures before launching the system.
Onyango and Kiplagat also raised concern over failure to address the legality of new fee imposed on vehicle owners who want access to the digital copy of the logbooks.
“Without court intervention, NTSA will continue expanding the programme, potentially rendering the petition nugatory and prejudicing millions of vehicle owner,” the two argued.
In response, the authority claimed that the introduction of the Electronic Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate (eLogbook) is a lawful administrative modernisation rather than a legislative overhaul.
It further said that it first allegedly began with public communication on May 7, 2026. The court heard that it published the same on its website, shared the same on its social media platforms and at Huduma Centres.
It asserted that the law does not require full public participation for administrative issues, but just consultations.
NTSA also claimed that there was no deadline to phase out the old logbooks, adding that a suspension of the e-platform would be against public interest owing to the amount of investment that had been put in place.
In its reply, the authority added that the court had no powers to intervene as Onyango and Kiplagat had allegedly not clearly indicated what rights had been infringed or how the authority had done so.
The authority claimed that the digitisation of the motor‐vehicle register advances Article 232 values of efficiency, economy, and integrity. According to NTSA, a suspension would be a recipe for chaos.
