Sakaja proposes model county electric mobility bill at Kenya policy workshop

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has proposed a model County Electric Mobility Bill to harmonise legislation across Kenya's 47 counties. He also called for a joint implementation programme and for five to ten model counties to lead the rollout of the country's electric mobility policy. The State Department for Transport said on 5 November 2026 that he made the proposals when he opened a workshop for county representatives.

Sakaja chairs the Council of Governors' Transport, Infrastructure and Energy Committee. He proposed that the State Department and the Council draft the model bill. He also urged Kenya to become a regional hub for vehicle assembly, battery technology and electric mobility skills, rather than only a market for imported electric vehicles.

The State Department convened representatives of the 47 counties, development partners and industry players to review progress on the National Electric Mobility Policy and plan how to accelerate electric mobility across the country.

Mohammed Abdi, Secretary of Administration at the State Department, spoke on behalf of Principal Secretary Mohamed Daghar. He said Cabinet adopted the policy in July 2025. It was launched on 3 February 2026 and later designated Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2026. About 90 per cent of Kenya's electric vehicle charging infrastructure is in Nairobi, he said.

Abdi said the policy uses a three-tier framework: a Steering Committee, an Implementation Team and five Technical Working Groups.

Rachel Njira Wanyamawi of the State Department gave an overview of the policy. She said more than 50,000 electric vehicles had been registered as of June 2026, most of them electric motorcycles, and that more than 35 companies were operating in the sector.

The policy text, published by the Ministry of Roads and Transport, says transport accounted for 13 per cent of Kenya's greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, a share projected to reach 17 per cent by 2030, and that the sector uses roughly 72 per cent of all petroleum products imported into the country.

Professor Robert Kibugi led the discussion on the legal gap assessment and the proposed National Electric Mobility Bill. Nairobi City County presented its Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Framework, developed with support from GIZ, the German development agency. The Electric Mobility Association of Kenya gave the industry's view.

The State Department is working with development partners on several projects. GIZ is supporting a one-stop electric mobility data platform. The University of California, Davis, with the International Council on Clean Transportation, is supporting the development of vehicle efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles. The World Resources Institute is supporting a study on how vehicle electrification affects the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, and the development of a decarbonisation strategy for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The International Finance Corporation is supporting the draft National Electric Mobility Bill and a National E-Mobility Strategy. The UN Environment Programme is supporting the development of fuel economy standards for two- and three-wheelers.

Participants reviewed action matrices for the policy's thematic areas and a Monitoring, Verification and Reporting Dashboard for tracking progress. The workshop ended with a joint commitment by the State Department and the Council of Governors to strengthen coordination and turn the agreed actions into practical measures.