Vehicle number plates have been increased to reduce congestion of imported cars at Mombasa port, Kenya Revenue Authority has said.

KRA corporate affairs manager for Coast region Fatma Yusuf said the authority was now ahead of demand, following increased supply of the number plates.

According to her, the authority was now issuing number plates up to KBC 500C although it has up to KBC 700C in stock.

"No one should now complain that number plates are not available. Those that had removed their vehicles from container freight stations without number plates should contact our offices for their number plates," the official said.

Last week, KRA allowed importers to collect vehicles from the freight stations before obtaining the mandatory number plates from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

This decision was reached after congestion threatened to overwhelm the facilities in Mombasa.

Piling up

Imported vehicles had been piling up at the port for nearly a month because number plates, which are made by the Prisons department, have been scarce. The department has now increased its production.

The shortage had been attributed to the recent strike by prison warders.

However, Prisons authorities have denied claims that the strike was to blame for the shortage.

The vehicles, which are cleared at the rate of 200 per day, had piled up to 10,000 in all the container freight stations used by the port.

About 2,000 more vehicles are expected to be shipped into the country next week.

Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association Mombasa branch chairman Peter Otieno said that once a vehicle had been cleared with all duties paid, including registration fees, it should be released immediately.