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NTSA's eLogbook Is Here: What It Means When You Buy a Used Car
The paper logbook is on its way out. Since 10 June 2026, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has been issuing digital eLogbooks through eCitizen, as part of every vehicle registration process: new registrations, transfers of ownership and changes to a vehicle's particulars.
What changes
- Ownership lives online. The eLogbook is generated on eCitizen when a vehicle transaction is completed, instead of a printed booklet.
- A QR code you can scan. Each eLogbook carries a QR code that buyers, banks and insurers can scan to check the ownership details.
- Transfers start online. Buyers and sellers can begin a transfer of ownership without visiting an NTSA office.
- Harder to forge. NTSA says the move is meant to cut fraud in private vehicle sales; reports describe the documents as protected against tampering.
One open question at launch was how existing paper logbooks would be converted. If you hold a paper logbook, check eCitizen for NTSA's current guidance before you sell.
How to use it when you buy
- Ask the seller to show the eLogbook and scan its QR code, the owner's name should match the seller's ID.
- If the seller isn't the registered owner, stop and ask why. A dealer selling on behalf of an owner should have written authority.
- Ask about finance. A car bought on a loan is often co-registered to the lender. Ask the seller for the lender's release before you pay.
- Only pay once the transfer is initiated on eCitizen in your name.
What the eLogbook won't tell you
The eLogbook proves who owns the car in Kenya today. It doesn't tell you what happened to the car before it got here. Most used cars in Kenya are imported from Japan, and the most expensive surprises: accident damage graded at auction, a wound-back odometer, a car that was used commercially, happened before the first Kenyan registration.
That's the gap a CarTrust report fills: the original Japanese auction sheet and photos, mileage records, the registration timeline and usage history, recalls and specifications. Use both: the eLogbook for ownership, CarTrust for history.