By Amos Kareithi
The deal was sealed with a handshake before the two men headed in different directions. One of them went to Kenya Revenue Authority headquarters while the other went to his office to await some money.
An hour later and Sh500 poorer, the man who went to KRA and who was a prospective car buyer rapidly marched out of the crowded KRA hall into the Nairobi streets.
He then communicated his disappointment through a short text message (SMS) to the seller. He had cancelled the deal.
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Some of the vehicles whose details in the logbooks have been altered. The logbook for the white car shows that it is blue in colour. Photo/ Jennifer Wachie/Standard |
Kenneth Mugo, the seller, was stunned on receiving the terse message aware that Sh400,000 had just slipped off his fingers.
"I could not believe it when I heard that there were problems with my log book. At first I thought the buyer had chickened out. So I confidently went to KRA’s Motor Vehicle Registration department to confirm it," Mugo recalls.
Since November 15, 2005, Mugo had jealously guarded the precious piece of paper, which declared him the proud owner of the white Toyota Corolla saloon car.
The logbook indicated that he was the owner of the car since it was imported from Japan.
Mugo had never had any reason to worry about the car until that day last month.
So when he went to KRA, Mugo confidently paid the mandatory fee of Sh500 to search the details of the vehicle. He did not have to wait long to confirm his worst fears. He was issued with a copy of records dated January 25, which formally documented the glaring inconsistencies.
Mugo explains: "The search records showed that my vehicle is blue, but in reality, it is white. The body type too is given as station wagon although mine is a saloon."
This, he notes, could have made the buyer panic after mistaking him for a fraudster as he could not understand how the KRA records could be wrong.
Big scandal
Mugo, who was now on high alert, scrutinised ownership document of another of his cars, a Toyota Carina.
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"I was stupefied when after reading through the logbook I discovered that the colour of the Toyota Carina car was given as white although it is actually silver," Mugo adds.
"This is not a case of simple typographical error. How can you confuse white with silver even if you are colour blind? There is more than meets the eye," he laments.
Dickson Mbugua, the chairman of Matatu Welfare Association advices Kenyans not to assume the information in their logbooks is correct.
"I know of several such cases. Matatu owners have come to me with complaints of erroneous information in the logbook," he notes.
"This is a big scandal, which is deep rooted. Who changes this and why?" Mbugua wonders.
Mugo is not the only victim.
Indeed, Mr Sammy Muturi, a Nairobi based advocate of the High Court says the scandal could be deep rooted. A few years ago he was shocked to discover such an anomaly after a client whose car had collided with another vehicle retained him.
"I went to do a search and got the particulars of the owner of the log book and successfully filed a case demanding compensation," Muturi recalled.
In the course of the trial, Muturi narrated how another lawyer representing another victim who had been travelling together with his client also conducted a search to ascertain the registered owner of the car.
"When he received the result, it was shocking. The details showed that as at the time of the accident, the vehicle was not owned by the person I had sued," Muturi notes. "As fate would have it, the victim could not file a claim against the owner I had sued and by the time Standard Assurance was wound up, the matter had not been settled."
"I have a feeling that some people, in conspiracy with corrupt KRA officials at times deliberately change the contents of the log book," Muturi says.
In another similar incident, when William Kariuki disposed of his old vehicle and upgraded it with a newer model, he got more than he bargained for.
"I applied for a transfer from the original owners, Christopher Ngure and Standard Chartered Bank," he recalls.
But when he received the logbook, he says the gun metallic saloon car, was declared black and suddenly assumed a transformation making it a Corona (Premio).
Its tare weight was reduced from the usual 1,150 kilograms for such models to zero, the body shape was changed from saloon to station wagon.
Fraud landmine
Kariuki was further disappointed to learn that the vehicle had been registered in Christopher Ngure’s name.
On September 22, last year, Kariuki wrote to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles enumerating seven mistakes with the new logbook.
"The logbook and transfer documents of the above mentioned vehicle came to your office for transfer from Christopher Ngure and Standard Bank to myself. Instead of transferring the said vehicle, the details changed and no transfer was done. The logbook was even sent to the previous owner," Kariuki wrote.
Kariuki says he was lucky he personally knew Ngure, who had sold the vehicle to him otherwise he would have lost the car just after paying for it.
"Can you imagine what would have happened if I had bought the car from a dishonest person? KRA would have helped dispossess me of my car," he notes.
Police Spokesman, Eric Kiraithe says police have received complaints from buyers who buy vehicles whose logbooks have errors.
"There is a lot of fraud in this area. We have received numerous complaints and we are investigating. We want to know whether there are some insiders in KRA who are conniving with the fraudsters," Kiraithe says.
He warns that the innocent looking mistakes may cost one a vehicle as the law is very particular about the records.
"The logbook is supposed to give accurate description in minute details and must, therefore, be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive," Kiraithe adds.
The police spokesman cautions that in the event of a dispute, a car claimant with a logbook which has inconsistencies will definitely lose the vehicle.
"If the body of your vehicle is described as white but in reality it is silver or grey, then that is not your car. You should make sure that if your vehicle is a station wagon, the logbook describes it as such. There should be no ambiguity. This is what the law states," Kiraithe says.
But even with all this, the Commissioner of Motor vehicles, Simeon ole Kirgotty is defending his staff against accusations of deliberate alteration of logbooks.
He, however, admits that many such cases have been brought to his attention and promised to tackle the problem.
"It is not that the staff are doing it deliberately. There has been a problem with data capture when we started migrating from the old log book to the new ones in 2008," he explained.
Kirgotty vowed: "I will personally look into this. My main duty is to keep records of our drivers and motor vehicle owners without any mistakes. That is why I am a registrar."
Early correction
He told motor vehicle owners whose logbooks had anomalies to contact his office as soon as possible so that the mistakes can be rectified.
He explained that since his department started replacing the old generation logbooks with the single sheet documents, there had been a problem with the systems.
"If after investigation we discover the mistake were made from our end, we will replace the logbook without charging any fees," Kirgotty says.
The Secretary General of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association, Charles Munyori says it is imperative that all details of a vehicle match its particulars.
"Once you detect the anomalies, please go back to KRA and have the mistakes rectified. If you delay, the mistake might cost a lot in future," Munyori explains.
Muturi says certain aspects of a vehicle cannot change such as the body make, engine capacity or chases number.
"If you want to change the colour of your car you can apply. The changes must be reflected in the logbook. Changing the colour without authority is a crime," the lawyer counsels.
The green light to change the colour of a motor vehicle, Muturi adds, is the preserve of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. However, the Flying Squad has to consent.