A petitioner has filed a constitutional petition seeking a temporary order stopping the National Transport and Safety Authority’s (NTSA) implementation of the instant traffic fine management system until his application is heard and determined.

NTSA, through its official X (formerly Twitter) account @ntsa_kenya, on March 9, 2026, announced the introduction of the instant traffic fine management system through cameras installed on major roads within the country.

Through a certificate of urgency filed at the Milimani Constitutional and Human Rights Division by Kennedy Maingi Mutwiri, he wants the court to restrain NTSA from distributing the systems to various locations.

“Pending the hearing and determination of this application inter partes, a conservatory order shall be issued stopping the 1st respondent (NTSA) from the continued deployment of the instant fine management system published through its public notice of March 9, 2026, in its social media accounts and electronic media,” the petitioner states.

System is illegal

In the application dated March 9, 2026, Maingi argues that the public notice by NTSA announcing the operationalisation of the system for motorists is illegal and without any legal foundation.

“The said public notice illegally and without any legal foundation introduces an instant fine system through cameras installed in major roads in Nairobi for violation of traffic laws and regulations,” part of the application reads.

According to the petitioner, the said system, upon detecting a violation in line with its programming, sends an instant fine notification via SMS to the alleged offender and charges the fine to the offender’s account maintained through the NTSA portal.

In addition, he states that the traffic violations which the system seeks to enforce are criminal offences created by the Traffic Act, Cap. 403, laws of Kenya, and should be prosecuted before courts of law before a determination of guilt through payment of fines is made.

Notably, he argues that the system is a flagrant violation of foundational constitutional edicts on the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary arms of government, as it purports to exercise judicial functions reserved for courts under Article 159 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.