How prepared are motorists for rollout of digital car plates on July 1?

The Government of Uganda has set 1st July 2023 as the rollout date of the digital car number plates. 

In 2021, the government, due to security reasons, contracted a Russian company, Joint Stock Company Global Security, on a 10-year deal to install digital tracking chips in all auto mobile number plates registered in the country.

The programme is supposed to be in three phases, starting with government vehicles, then newly registered ones, and later the old ones.

To acquire the digital plate, motorists have to pay up to USD200 (about Shs735,000).

But how prepared are the motorists for the digital plates?

According to Thaddeus Musoke, the KACITA acting chairperson, there is a need for sensitization of the masses about this new program, something that has not been done.

He adds that the government should also reconsider the pricing of these plates, because the cost is higher in Uganda compared to that in the region and there is no explanation why. 
   
Marvin Ayebare from  the used car Dealers association, says that as part of the stakeholders, they have severally engaged the responsible government agencies, but little has been achieved. He adds that though they agree with the essence of the digital plates, their concern is about the implementation.    

According to Ayebare, even the card dealers who have been at the forefront of pushing for this program are not equipped with the required knowledge of the topic yet they receive daily questions about the issue about cost, because it is inconsistent with existing automobiles registration regulations.   

Micheal Blair Ntambi, on behalf of SafeBoda and E-traders and Startups Association of Uganda, says that it is unfair for the government to roll out the Traffic and Road safety digital registration regulations 2022 when the masses are losing out in the process.    According to Ntambi,  the digital plates have tracking chips that will avail a person’s whereabouts at any time in real-time, and also one’s bio-data infringes on one’s right to privacy, which is granted by the Constitution.