Vehicle registration plates of Kenya

A 1950-1989 series Kenyan (K) Nairobi (K) license plate from October (X) 1967

It is not known when the first vehicle was registered in Kenya, but it is thought to be before 1920. Single letters were attributed to each of the 14 registration districts i.e. N=Kiambu, E=Kisumu, J=Kitale, B, H, T, W=Nairobi, A=Mombasa, C=Nakuru, D=Kericho, F=Eldoret, G=Nyeri, K=Muranga (Fort Hall), L=Kisii, Q=Machakos, S=Lamu, V=Isiolo, Y=Nanyuki. A serial number of 1-9999 followed, on white on black plates, save for public transport vehicles, ie buses, taxis and hire cars, which used black on white.

The 1950 K-prefix series was a change to a three-letter numbering system, necessitated by the increasing number of vehicles being registered. It was introduced on a regional basis as follow;[2] All plates began with K, followed by the regional code (below) and a serial letter A-Z, not using letters I or O.

• Nairobi - KB (1950), KF (1955), KG (1959), KH (1961), KK (1965), KM (1968), KN (1970), KP (1972), KQ (1974), KR (1976) and KV (1978)
• Mombasa - KA (1950), KJ (1966), KT (1977)
• Nakuru - KC (1950), KL (1967), KS (1977)
• Kisumu - KD (1950), KU (1977)
• Nanyuki - KE

Other number were issued

• Some KC and KL numbers were issued to Eldoret and Kitale.
• KBA was issued to Nyeri, the first Nairobi number being KBB. Nyeri then followed with KFE and KGT.
• Kericho was issued with KDB then KDK which were used up to 1969.
• Kisii was issued with KDE then shared KDK with Kericho.
• Kakamega used KDL between 1962 and 1967.

The numbering system was centralised in 1980 and after that date all Kenya numbers are in sequence. Between 1980 and 1984 the unused numbers from Nakuru (KS), Mombasa (KT) and Kisumu (KU) were issued, KW (1984) being the first number that was never used regionally.

After the registration of vehicle KZZ 999, the second generation was started in 1989.[3] The series follow KAA 001A to KAZ 999Z The present KAA xxx A series had, the advantage being that each third letter of the number provided for 23,976 registrations instead of the previous 999. Hence for the series to be finished about 575424 vehicle will be registered. KAF, KAO, KAI were omitted.

After the registration of vehicle KAZ 999Z, the third generation was started in 2007 as KBA 001A.[4] The series will run from KBA 001A to KBZ 999Z

In 2014, the government announced a revamp of the registration plates to a new look, featuring electronic chips [5]

After the registration of vehicle KBZ 999Z, the fourth generation was started in 2014 as KCA 001A. The series ran from KCA 001A to KCZ 999Z

After the registration of vehicle KCZ 999Z, the fifth generation was started in September 2020 with KDA 001A. The series will run from KDA 001A to KDZ 999Z

There are other number sequences that are used in Kenya.

• The Kenyan Government uses GK;
• The Kenyan County Governments use CG, for example Nairobi County vehicles are 47 CG;
• Governors use GVN followed by their county code;
• Kenya Army - KA;
• Kenya Air Force - KAF;
• Kenya Navy - KN;
• Kenya Agricultural Institute - KAI;
• Diplomats use N CD and they are red plates with white letters and numbers;
• Parastatals use blue plates with white letters and numbers
• Motorcycles now use KMCA series;
• Heavy Machinery uses "KHMA" series;
• Tricycle uses KTWA series;
• NGO - KX;
• Vehicle Dealers Number plate series - KG.