The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has suspended all its digital services for 60 hours, beginning 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 17, and running through 8:00 a.m. on Monday, July 20, to allow for scheduled preventive maintenance.
In a public notice, NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa said the exercise was necessary to strengthen the reliability of the authority’s online systems. “This is to inform all our stakeholders that the NTSA system will have scheduled preventive maintenance from Friday, 17th July 2026 (8 pm) to Monday, 20th July 2026 (8 am),” the notice read.
Kondiwa apologised for the disruption and asked Kenyans for patience “as we work to offer quality services to you.”
More than 26 services on the NTSA portal will go dark during the maintenance window. These include logbook transfers and vehicle ownership searches, driving licence applications and renewals, motor vehicle inspection bookings, road service licence (RSL) applications, and online fine payments. Also affected are duplicate logbook requests, PSV badge processing, reflective number plate applications, and services for diplomatic card holders and driving school instructors updating learner records.
Motorists have been urged to complete urgent transactions before the blackout begins or wait until systems are restored on Monday. Anyone requiring urgent help during the outage was directed to email [email protected] or visit the nearest NTSA office.
The shutdown carries wider consequences beyond individual motorists. Kenyans in the diaspora who routinely process vehicle transfers for family members through the eCitizen-linked NTSA portal will see those transactions stall until Monday. Clearing agents at the Port of Mombasa also face pressure, as imported vehicles awaiting registration before leaving the port could accrue additional storage costs during the delay.
NTSA said the maintenance is part of broader efforts to expand system capacity, improve inter-agency data-sharing with bodies such as the Kenya Revenue Authority, and patch cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The upgrade follows a recent High Court ruling allowing the authority to enforce mandatory mechanical inspections for private vehicles older than four years, a change expected to significantly increase the volume of data the system must handle.
Law enforcement officers have reportedly been briefed to rely on physical documentation during the outage, as real-time verification of digital licences and PSV compliance badges will not be possible. Motorists are advised to carry hard copies of key documents through the weekend.
The NTSA said normal service will resume by 8:00 a.m. Monday, though users should expect a temporary backlog as the system processes accumulated transactions.
