TRANSFERRING CAR OWNERSHIP-KENYAN STYLE

I have had my car for the last 8 weeks and I can’t tell you how much of a difference it has made to my life.  Just the independence of moving around when I want is an exhilarating feeling.  It is another one of those things that people take for granted and I am enjoying every second that I am behind the wheel, even though I do miss my great driving friend Steve, we try and talk on the phone at least once a week to stay in touch.

So I’ve had my car for 8 weeks and I still had to complete the last step of the purchase and I had 4 weeks left to do it.  There is a process to buying a car in Kenya.  No-one can just buy a car and have it in their own name unless you have a Kenyan ID (or Alien card) and a pin number.  Kenyans and foreigners alike must have the required ID and pin number and this not only allows you to buy a vehicle but also land and housing in Kenya.  Just getting your ID and pin number is a lengthy process.  You can’t get a pin number without your Alien card and you can’t get your Alien card without a Kenyan Permit and they seem to be harder and harder to obtain than when I applied last July.  But I wanted to start my permit process so that when I got back to Kenya at the start of this year, I had started the timely process of becoming ‘Kenyan-ized’.  So I got my permit in November, after 4 months in the process, I applied for my Alien card before I left for Australia at the end of November so that when I came back to Kenya in January of this year, I would be able to hit the ground running and start the process of applying for my pin number and finally…………. purchase my own set of wheels.  I told you there is a process and one cannot be done without the other. 

I was lucky that when I got back to Kenya in January, Steve was on the case and started to make enquiries on the purchase of a vehicle for me.  I had contracted him to find me the best deal and to find a sound worthy machine for me to run around in, and being a female; I am certainly not knowledgeable on cars….. at all.  We had spoken for months about the type of car that I wanted and after weighing up all the pro’s and con’s we had settled on a Toyota Vitz (Yaris in other countries).  After Steve checked with his contacts, checked some car yards and a visit to the Ngong Car Market, he got a lead on a vehicle from a local guy in our area where Steve knew the sellers father and also knew where the family lived.  These details may not seem that important, but you hear of stories of people buying stolen cars or dodgy vehicles all the time, and if you can get a car from a reliable source, then it just helps with stress levels and also knowing the history of the car.  One week after we had started looking we had found ‘the one’.  So we had found ‘the one’ but my paperwork was still not complete.  I was still to get my Alien card and my pin number before I could legally transfer the car into my name, but if we waited then I could miss out on the purchase!!!  But Steve explained to me that there is a small window in the purchase of a vehicle where you are given a 3 month grace period in finalizing the transfer.  This worked in perfect for me as my Alien card was due within weeks and from what I researched applying for your pin number could be done online and seemed to be an instantaneous process, so with a 3 month time limit, it worked on perfect for me and wouldn’t hold up buying the car.

So the car was ‘delivered’ and all the required paper work was signed and witnessed.  When you buy a car you need to make sure that you have a Sale Agreement, the KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) transfer form signed by the seller, a front and back copy of the sellers Kenyan ID card and a copy of their pin number.  I would then add to that a front and back copy of my Alien card and a copy of my pin number and then I would be good to transfer the vehicle.  I have to say I have been quite lucky with the timing of all my processed paperwork over the last 3 months and my Alien card was ready 2 weeks later, so with my first drive on my own into town that took me 3.5 hours to travel 20km, I collected my Kenyan ID!!!  I then just had my pin number to obtain and then I would have to travel back into town for the final transfer paperwork.  I was hoping that I would be able to get my pin number online and then I would just pay Steve to go in for me, for all the hassle I was expecting, to pay someone (which is the done thing here anyway) and I think would be worth every penny.

As this is Kenya, not everything goes to plan and I must have tried 30 times to apply for my pin number online.  I kept getting an error message that the information I was inputting was not matching up with the KRA records and that I had to head to a KRA office or phone them.  So I HAD to go into the city anyway, so my plan was to apply for the pin number in person and then I would head to KRA Transport located next door to lodge the transfer papers and I was lucky that both departments are located in the same complex.  So not all was lost, and at 6.30am Steve picked me up and we headed into town.  I could have driven myself, but after my last trip that took me 3.5 hours and trying to find a park in the CBD can be a nightmare combined with the fact that if I needed help, Steve would be on hand-it was worth it to use his services this time.  The traffic was ‘normal’ and took us 1.5 hours to travel the 20km with us arriving just before 8am and we were able to find a park just down from Times Tower-where the offices were located.

I had to get a photocopy of the logbook (which is actually an A5 piece of paper and not a book at all) and I also got copies of my Alien card, passport, transfer ownership form, the sellers ID/pin number and the motor vehicle agreement.  Now I had everything I needed and Steve walked me to the increasing queue of people that were waiting outside waiting for the building to open and let people in.  There would have been over 200 people in front of me as the line snaked down the side of the security fence and I am glad that Steve was with me as there was NOT one other white person in line and very few females.  8am came and there were 2 officers that were checking ID’s at the start of the line and for whatever reason the ladies were allowed to cut the line and get checked by the female officer, so with a wave to Steve I showed my Kenyan ID, which I show with pride as I know the amount of time, money and effort that goes into obtaining that ID, and you are also looked at a little differently I feel (in a good way) that the extra step has been taken by a foreigner to become Kenyan-ized.  After the ID check, you then continue to a marquee that is set up on the pavement where you are body scanned with a security wand before finally entering through a gate where your bag is put through an x-ray machine and you are into the Times Tower compound. 

Like anything that opens first thing, there is a flurry of people trying to be the ‘first’ to where they are going, it’s like the shops on Boxing Day in Australia, people madly scrambling, elbows and pushing, and I think a Kenyan would hold their own in a Boxing Day sale scrimmage!!  I found myself after checking with a security guard that I was in the right place, I was 2^nd in line, which was a good place to be as 5 minutes later there would have been 50 people split between 2 lines behind me.  Nothing moves quickly here and 15 minutes later I was at the counter only to be told that they cannot issue a pin over the counter, it HAS to be done online!  I explained that I had tried to do it online like 20 times and I was then let in on the big secret and told that where it asks you to enter your passport number, it actually is asking you for your Kenyan ID number, so your number is submitted twice!  Well that totally makes sense-NOT!  I am sure I am not the only one who inputs their passport number where it asks for PASSPORT number.  So it was suggested that I use the internet café outside of the compound (where I had just come from), lodge my pin application, as it should be instantaneous, and then I could complete the transfer process with the transport department.  So I had to exit through another gate where my bag was x-rayed again upon exit and I phoned Steve and he came back and we then went back to the photocopy place that also had the internet café, and I was lucky that there were KRA officers on the computers offering help to people.  So she logged into her account and after filling in the form online, we logged into my Hotmail account to wait for my pin number to be sent.  And we waited….and we waited and I never received the number via email, but thankfully as it was done under the KRA officer’s login and she was able to pull up the application and retrieve my pin number and provide me with a copy.  FINALLY. 

So with a wave back to Steve again, the queue was just as long now as it was 25 minutes ago, of people waiting outside building premises, but having the ‘female’ ticket I was able to go to the top of the line and got checked by the female officer again showing my Kenyan ID, going through to the marquee for the security wand, again, before finally entering through a gate where your bag is put through an x-ray machine, again, and I found myself back in the Times Tower compound.  I made my way to the building next to the one that I had come out of earlier and after checking with another security guard asking where I needed to go, entering the transport building the first thing I noticed was there would have been 500 people all in different queue’s, that snaked their way around the ground floor.  I was told to go to window 16 and was lucky to find that there was not one person in line for this window!  My paperwork was checked and I was given a printout of the tax that I had to pay on a second hand car and told to go to the National Bank, also located on the ground floor, to make the payment, and then to go to window 24 once that had been done.  It all seemed easy enough until I saw the line for the bank.  It was one of the shorter ones of all the lines that were queued for various things, but it still had 30+ people in front of me and after standing there for 50 minutes and only a handful of people getting served, I realized that I was going to be here for a while.  I was prepared and I had bought a book to read and I had plenty of juice on my phone and settled in for the wait.  Because the queue had to be back from the main bank entrance, so that another queue could snake past and walking traffic could pass, there would be people that would try and enter the bank not realizing that the line was 50 deep behind them.  I made friends with the lady in front and the man behind me and we would have a great chuckle when the security guard that was manning our line would tell them where the line started and their face of shock!  The guard did a great job and did not let one single person push in and I remembered to thank him after I had finally been served to let him know he was doing a great job.  I am sure it is a very thankless job.  To think that I got there are 8.45am and I was finally served at 11.20am, I would hate to be getting there any later as I walked out the line would have been double the length it was when I arrived and it was approaching lunch time.  Yeah good luck with that people, good luck!  I will never complain about an Australian banking queue ever again.

So I went in search of window 24, dodging all the other people that were queuing, to find that window 24 had no-one waiting and also no-one behind the window.  I walked up to the window and saw a sign that said if a payment had been made that they require a photocopy of the receipt that had been stamped before the final paperwork could be submitted.  So you know what that means!  I had to exit the whole compound AGAIN, getting x rayed on my way out, headed back to the photocopy/internet place and get the damn receipt photocopied!  Man there is a paper trail and copies of everything required here and I guess it comes down to the level of technology that they are currently working with.  At least I knew where to go this time and then retraced my steps back again.  I knew I could jump the queue that was waiting for the ID check as I was a ‘lady’, I got checked by the female officer again, for the third time, showing my Kenyan ID, going through to the marquee for the body scan with a security wand, again, for the third time, before finally entering through the gate where your bag is put through an x-ray machine, again, for the third time, and back again into the Times Tower compound hopefully for the last time!!!

I re-entered the building and there were people everywhere.  I double checked with a security guard on what window I had to go to and he told me window 26 &27 and when I saw that queue, I swear there would have been over 150 people in that line, it was that long that I couldn’t see where the line ended to even join it!!  That could NOT be my line.  I double-double checked with another security guard and he told me that window 24 was the correct window and when I said there was no-one there, he said just wait, some-one will come.  When I asked what the long line was, for windows 26 &27, he told me that those people were re-newing their licences.  I am glad that I asked and didn’t take the word from the other security guard, as I would have most definitely been in that queue for hours, and been pretty pissed when I got to the window and was in the wrong line.  IMAGINE!!!!!  So I waited at window 24, where 3 other people waited behind me and after 10 minutes of no-one coming I asked a guy walking past behind the counter if there was a staff member around, he said that one would come in a few minutes and true to word a lady showed up, checked the paperwork, made sure the copy of the receipt was there, stamped my copy and I was all done in 2 minutes flat!!!  3.5 hours later and I was finally done with the whole process and the log book with my name would be sent out in the next 4 weeks.  I expected the whole process to take this long and I think when you do finish things like this here in Kenya you get a sense of accomplishment, especially as I am doing it all myself.  A lot of expats have drivers, assistants and/or companies that do all this leg work for them, but not little ol’ me and that was highlighted as I waited for the last 3.5 hours, I was the only white person in the whole building the WHOLE time, only seeing a white business man on my way out.  I didn’t feel unsafe, but I was certainly a double minority with 97% of the people being male and 100% being the only white person.  On my way out the queues were getting insanely long and my piece of advice would be to get there early to get to the top of the lines.  I did speak to one of my friends afterwards relating my story and he told me next time I had to go into Times Tower he could send one of his guys in for me at a cost of 500KSH (5.88AUD)!!!  NOW he tells me this!!!  I think it would be worth every damn cent to send a guy next time, and I will definitely remember the offer!!  But every time I do these things myself, I learn more on how things work in this country and that can be a positive I can take out of standing in a banking line for 2.5 hours!!

That is how you do a transfer of ownership of a car in Kenya.