Mostly Japanese saloons, 4x4s and MPVs, the cars, which are worth an estimated £28m, contravene Kenya’s rule that vehicles brought into the country should not be more that eight years old.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman, Mumo Matemu, told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper that destroying the cars would “send a strong message to those flouting regulations”.
The government is unclear how the more than 2,000 seized cars were cleared by the Kenya Revenue Authority, the country’s tax agency.
Kenya is just one of several markets around the world, often former British dependencies, that lap up unwanted Japanese cars, which are popular because they are right-hand drive. A limit on the age of the imports is a popular means for the receiving countries to avoid becoming a dumping ground for old wrecks. According to Japanese customs figures, nearly 52,000 vehicles were exported to Kenya in 2013.
