The Ministry of Works and Transport has announced the rolling out of the exercise that will see the old licence number plates replaced with digital ones.
The digital number plates will be fitted with bluetooth chips and are part of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System that will be implemented by /S Joint Stock Company Global Security, a Russian company.
Speaking during the roll out on Wednesday, the Minister of Works and Transport Gen Katumba Wamala said the roll out will begin with government vehicles before motorcycles around Kampala.
The official roll out for private vehicles will commence on February, 1, 2024.
"There are direct benefits like national security. Our country is highly loved and one of the best destinations in the world but we need to enhance security and this system will do that, safety and control of vehicle related criminality. The project will help deter theft of motor vehicles due to enhanced traceability, tracking and feedback from national police command centre," Gen Katumba said.
Magic bullet
The Works and Transport Minister said the digital number plates and the entire Intelligent Transport Monitoring System will become the magic bullet for dealing with criminality, noting that on purchase of the number plates Ugandans will also have got free tracking system fitted in their vehicles that in case of theft, they can easily be tracked.
"It will discourage reckless driving through constant monitoring through CCTV cameras and point to point communication by police officers. The system is also intended to instill discipline among motorists on the road but will also save the traffic police officers the burden of jumping on boda bodas to chase wrong doors but will rather communicate to colleagues and the wrongdoers are got."
"The system will help us trace criminals who use vehicles or motorcycles to flee from crime scenes."
He said that owing to the system, all details of Ugandans with vehicles will be stored in a central place and this will also aid in tax collection, adding that it will create employment to those who will man the system and those who will work in the number plate factory at Bugoloobi.
Gen Katumba Wamala however allayed fears of using the system to spy on Ugandans.
"It will not be abused and there is no need to worry. The system will not interfere with your business at night but will only do so if there is any criminal element involved," he said.
He said the digital number plates will improve also improve the registration and identification of government vehicles under ministries, departments and agencies since each will have a unique code.
"Right now it is somehow difficult to differentiate between one agency's number plate from the other since all of them are blue. Now you will be able to differentiate that this belongs to an agency in ministry of energy or agriculture or elsewhere."
The Minister for Security, Gen Jim Muhwezi said Police officers have been trained to fit the trackers into the vehicles by the Russian company, noting that the company is investing its own money that will be recouped within 10 years.
The project
Following the assassination of high profile figures in the country including AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi, Joan Kagezi, Col.Ibrahim Abiriga, Muhammad Kirumira and Maj.Muhammad Kiggundu, President Museveni in 2018 laid out a 10-point strategy that would help deal with this rising spate of violent crimes in the country.
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"We shall require every motorist and motorcyclist to have electronic number plates with an electronic signal in them - to be incurred at the cost of every owner. This will enable us to know which vehicle or piki piki (motorcycle) was in a particular area when a crime was committed,"Museveni said during the State of the Nation address in 2018.
"We need new helmets with illuminated numbers at the front and at the back. These helmets will be registered and put in the central processing systems of Police."
According to the project, every vehicle and motorcycle will be required to get a digital number plate that is fitted with a chip that in case of any crime, it is easy for security to go the system to trace the vehicle at that particular point during the commission of the crime.
The president said this would be easy to implement with the installation of CCTV cameras by checking footage .
