Coast Stakeholders Split Over Proposed National Automotive Bill, 2025
Government representatives reaffirmed their position that the Bill does not intend to ban the importation of used vehicles while ensuring all opinions aired in the Coast region would be considered before the Bill was tabled in Parliament.
Dr Mukhwana assured stakeholders that all views raised during the public participation forums in Mombasa, Kwale, and Taita Taveta counties would be carefully reviewed and considered before the Bill is finalised and submitted to Parliament. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
The proposed National Automotive Bill, 2025 has received mixed responses from different stakeholders in the Coast region, with automakers embracing the Bill as long overdue, while car importers and other actors in the mobility sector expressed reservations about the Bill. The reservations and supports were exhibited during public participation sessions organized by the State Department for Industry as part of countrywide consultations for the Bill.
At the Coastal region forum, which took place at the Tononoka Social Hall in Mombasa, all the other stakeholders from the three other counties, including Mombasa, Kwale, and Taita Taveta, were also present. In his speech to the forum participants, the PS of the SDI, Dr. Juma Mukhwana, stated:
Dr. Mukhwana pointed out that the Bill is targeted at promoting the assembling of vehicles and motorcycles, as well as promoting the manufacture of components locally. Additionally, the Bill seeks to accelerate innovation and the development of the Automotive Sector Master Plan that will make Kenya the automotive hub of the regional economy. According to Dr. Mukhwana, the Bill will help Kenya to meet its development vision of Kenya Vision 2030, the National Industrialisation Policy Framework (2012-2030), and BETA.
The Bill has received overwhelming support from the automobile makers who attended the forum. Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Automotive Sector Chair Anthony Musyoki welcomed the Bill and noted that it will fill the gaps that have hampered the development of the industry for many decades. The industry has its origin in the 1970s, where the government stimulated the establishment of the assembly plants in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Thika.
Musyoki observed that the maximum output was attained in the 1980s at close to 20,000 vehicles per year. However, the output dropped cumulatively in the early 1990s as a result of ill-managed market liberalization. Later, the output was below 4,000 per year, which put many indigenouscomponents manufacturers out of business. Although the creation of the EAC had widened the market, Musyoki observed that very little progress had been made due to the absence of an overarching legislative framework.
“This Bill proposes the establishment of an Automotive Council to provide guidance in policy matters, among other benefits,” He explained. Making comparisons, Musyoki added, “South Africa and Morocco for instance put together 600,000 vehicles per annum, yet we assembled only 14,000 last year. This Bill is meant to promote assembly and manufacturing, including motor cycles and electric cars. The issue of used vehicle importation has neither been mentioned nor addressed.”
Car importers, on the other hand, strongly objected to the Bill. The Car Importers Association of Kenya Chair, Peter Otieno, stated that the Bill was not inclusive enough to be effective in its intended goal of building a Kenyan identity in transport but might end up affecting the ability to provide mobility to low- and middle-class Kenyans. Otieno also challenged the extent of the local content in the current assembly manufacturing processes, while encouraging the government to focus on manufacturing spare parts as well as improving environmental standards. On this matter, government representatives reaffirmed their position that the Bill does not intend to ban the importation of used vehicles while ensuring all opinions aired in the Coast region would be considered before the Bill was tabled in Parliament.
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