Vehicle Situation Update - August 3

Well,  today could have been worse.  In short, my husband came home and the car is still on our compound.    So, we're thankful for that today.

It sure does look like what happened is the following:  One or the other (or both) of the Kenyan officials who imported the vehicle for the previous owner were corrupt.  In Kenya, all cars are imported, and there are laws you have to follow and also certain criteria for the cars that are imported.  When you have a car imported, you have to pay duty on the car (which normally is half or more of the value of the car).  Once you pay the duty, you get the license plate which is registered to you and to the car (by way of make/model/year of manufacture and also the chassis number one the car (not sure if I spelled that correctly).  It is very possible that, though the previous owner paid the duty, one or both of the Kenyan officials pocketed the money and falsified the license plate and the log book (the official paperwork you get when you own the car).  If this is indeed the situation, then our vehicle is an unregistered vehicle and thus - illegal.

Roger went to see the lawyer this morning, then took a friend with him to the police station.  The police were not happy that he hadn't brought the car, but they have to issue a summons to legally take the car; they can't just force him to bring it.  And since they hadn't done that, there was only so much they could say.  They accused him of going back on his word and said that he'd promised to bring the car in today.  Roger reminded him that he expressly said he would NOT bring the car in today and that he won't bring it in next time either (more of that later).  After about 1/2 hour of talking, Roger and his friend got them to admit that it is possible the problem is with the other car - that its the one that is illegal, or, that there was an administrative problem in the filing of the paper work.  Once they admitted that possibility, they had to give Roger time to do some more investigating, but then they quickly back-tracked and wouldn't talk about those possibilities anymore, even to the point saying they didn't want to talk about that.

Bottom line at this point is that Roger is going back to Eldoret next Wednesday to have the chassis number on our car investigated and to see if that chassis number is registered, or to see if there is any vehicle registered to the former owner of our car.  If there is, then we're in a better situation.  If not, then our car will be taken and we have been driving an illegal car. Roger has to return to the police station next Thursday to tell them what he found and show them any new paperwork that he gets.   I looked in the Kenyan traffic law, and I don't see any place it says Roger can be jailed.  It just says the police can seize the car.  But that may not be definitive.  Worst case scenario would be that our car is seized and Roger goes to jail.  Next is that Roger doesn't go to jail, but the car is seized and we have to buy a new vehicle (extremely expensive).  Next is that we can get the car legally registered, which means we have to pay the impounding fees (daily, about $120.00) and then we have to pay the duty - half the value of the vehicle, which could be up to $10,000.00. Best case scenario is that there was an administrative error.  I'm not saying its not possible, but given the circumstances, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

So, that's where things stand as of now.  I'll know more after next Wednesday when Roger goes to Eldoret. Meanwhile, we can't drive the car at all, but there is a car we can borrow when needed - for the most part.

Please continue to pray - for our attitudes as well as the situation.  We and the former owner (who's name is still legally on the registration) are the victim's in this situation that was caused by government corruption, but it is we who will bear the brunt of the consequences, and human beings that we are, its easy to play the blame game rather than just deal with the situation at hand and recognize the HAND of our loving Father who is in control and allowed us to be caught up in this.  It is this we must focus on and then deal with the situation in a way that honors Him.

In Christ - Held in His Grip
Julie