THE REGISTRATION of motor vehicles stolen from South Africa, UK and Japan or imported from the United Arab Emirates is becoming increasingly difficult in Kenya.

As the Kenya government enhances measures to ensure that stolen vehicles are not registered in the country, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles is checking imported vehicle documents lodged at his office against an Interpol database to establish whether the vehicles are stolen or not. All Interpol bureaux keep a database of vehicles reported stolen worldwide based on the engine and chassis numbers.

This database is proving to be useful to the scene of crime squad at the Criminal Investigations Department, which is employing a chemical procedure that reveals the initial Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) even where a fake one has been imprinted after scraping off the genuine one.

The procedure is not foolproof, though. Syndicates are known to interchange engines.

The head of the Interpol National Central Bureau in Kenya, Assistant Commissioner of Police Grace Kaindi, said scraped off chassis numbers were a problem with vehicles stolen from South Africa than with those stolen from Dubai or the UK. 

However, since the establishment of the bureau in 1991, Mrs Kaindi said the situation had improved because of the liaison between Interpol offices. Nevertheless, criminals are now exploiting the South African Development Community (SADC) to bring stolen vehicles into the region through Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Vehicles found to have been stolen are being impounded and the owners charged with handling stolen property, except where they can identify the seller. The buyers can also launch civil suits against the sellers. "This has become standard procedure for vehicles from Dubai, South Africa and the United Kingdom," said Ms Kaindi.

"No law in Kenya covers an innocent buyer," Ms Kaindi said with regard to the fact that stolen vehicles were sold to unsuspecting members of the public. And if the long arm of the law strikes, they could be in the cooler for handling stolen property for a maximum of 14 years. She advises buyers to check with law enforcement officers, once they identify their vehicle of choice, to ascertain whether it is stolen or not.

The insurance company that had insured the stolen vehicle before it was reported stolen is also advised of the recovery. "Due to the costs involved, many overseas insurance companies prefer to sell the vehicles back to the market of recovery," Chief Inspector Peter Muiruri told The EastAfrican.

Although figures for vehicles stolen overseas and sold to East African nationals are not readily available, the increasing level of carjackings suggests the existence of a ready market for stolen automobiles. In Kenya alone, 3,391 people had their vehicles stolen or were robbed of them last year, compared with 2,212 vehicles in 2000.

"The racket is picking up for the first time since 1995," Ms Kaindi said. She attributed the increase to the surfacing of a new syndicate, particularly for UK vehicles, after the initial one was smashed.

"Cases of vehicles stolen from the UK, particularly Range Rovers and Volkswagen Golfs, are resurfacing," Ms Kaindi said. The initial racket, smashed in 1995, involved a Kenyan student who has since been jailed in the UK.

Vehicles would be stolen from the streets of London and shipped to Mombasa from where the student's local contacts would go through normal Customs clearance procedures and sell the vehicles to pre-arranged buyers "including prominent people." 

The racket was smashed in 1995 following the setting of a 'trap' in which a vehicle fitted with a tracker system was placed in a street notorious for vehicle theft. Through the tracker, the vehicle was traced to Mombasa and eventually its new owner, who is currently languishing in jail for 10 years for handling stolen property. While handling stolen property earns the offender a maximum 14 years in prison, Kenyan law stipulates a maximum three years term for theft while robbery with violence is a capital offence. The rationale behind the law is that those who handle stolen goods encourage theft. 

The South African syndicate specialises in BMWs, Mercedes Benzes and Peugeot 504 station wagons, which are assembled in South Africa. Mrs Kaindi said the verification procedure was being broadened to include vehicles from the entire Southern Africa region.

Also, the anti-theft measures, market constraints, increased liaison between Interpol and insurance companies and advanced tracking technologies – such as the Global Positioning System – have increased the recovery rate of stolen vehicles. 

Out of the 8,613 cars that were stolen between 1999 and 2001 in Kenya, 2,589 or one in every three cars were recovered. The statistics show an improvement in recoveries from one to two out of five cars between 1999 and 2000. However, the ratio fell to one out of three cars last year but was still better than in 1999.

In the year 2000, 50,000 Japanese vehicles – ranging from Toyota Starlets to the top of the range Landcruiser VX were stolen. Mr Bob Moore, the general manager in charge of sales and marketing at Toyota East Africa in Nairobi, reported last November that 80 per cent of Toyota owners who had checked with the company had found that their cars had been stolen. 

With Toyota accounting for an estimated 70 per cent of the cars on Kenyan roads, that imply that over 56 per cent of the vehicles in the country are stolen. A crackdown in the UK on stolen cars last year netted over 1,000 top models such as Landcruisers, Pajeros and Lexus, although stolen vehicles in the country are estimated at tens of thousands.

Tanzania is also a recipient of stolen cars, mainly from South Africa. A few others are stolen from Zambian and Zimbabwe. A negligible number is also stolen from Kenya and Uganda. Last year, the Tanzania police in conjunction with the Interpol departments of Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa launched a search for stolen vehicles. Tanzanian police discovered hundreds of stolen vehicles, particularly from South Africa. However, upon closer contacts with Interpol, it became apparent that the reported thefts were false. Most of the vehicles, it was found, had bought from genuine South African owners who reported them stolen to defraud their insurance companies.