Different vehicles in the country bear number plates that legally allow them to operate on Kenya roads according to the country's traffic rules enshrined in the Constitution.
The Registrar of Motor Vehicles issues the unique identifiers. The further agency keeps records of all registered vehicles by departments such as those owned by civilians, the government (GK), and parastatals, usually blue. Local authorities are green, and other international bodies, which are red.
Just like civilian cars, which have white number plates engraved on the front and back bumper, diplomatic cars also have number plates bearing different meanings.
In Kenya, diplomatic number plates were assigned to embassies in the order in which they recognised the country's independence. Germany became the first country in the world to recognise Kenya as an independent state hence it was assigned diplomatic plate 1 CD.
The first figures are the code for the diplomat's country, the CD shows it is for a Chartered Diplomat, and the next figures show which embassy it is allocated to depending on the rank of the car owner then, at the end is K which means the embassy is based in Kenya.
For instance, diplomatic registration number 1 CD 12 K, where 1 is the code for the diplomatic country.
CD means it is for a Chartered Diplomat, while 12 represents the rank of the car owner. K indicates that the embassy is located in Kenya.
The unique identification codes are meant to help law enforcement officers keep track of the country's diplomatic cars and enable the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to effectively perform its mandate.
To enhance service delivery, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i opened GoK-UN Service Center in Gigiri, Nairobi, to allow diplomats to access several services including those relating to NTSA.
With the opening of the center, envoys will acquire all services within 12 hours.
Here is the Breakdown of all diplomatic number plates and their countries
1 CD – Germany
2 CD – Russian Federation
3 CD – Ethiopia
4 CD – China
5 CD – Norway
6 CD – Hungary
7 CD – Egypt
8 CD – Serbia
9 CD – Italy
10 CD – France
11 CD – Slovakia
12 CD – Denmark
13 CD – Japan
14 CD – Sudan
15 CD – Austria
16 CD – India
17 CD – Australia
18 CD – Canada
19 CD – The Vatican
20 CD – Finland
21 CD – Switzerland
22 CD – United Kingdom
23 CD – Liberia
