Overview:
A Russian company was contracted to deliver the digital number plates but Kikubolane understands that the ongoing sanctions against Russia have affected the company's capacity to deliver on the contract on time.
The government of Uganda through the Ministry of Works and Transport has extended the digital number plate project by four months.
The project, which includes installation of digital number plates on cars and boda boda, was expected to start on February 1, 2024, after it was launched in November 2023.
But this website understands that logistical delays as well as delayed sensitisation have led to the postponement of the project to July.
A Russian company was contracted to deliver the digital number plates but Kikubolane understands that the ongoing sanctions against Russia have affected the company’s capacity to deliver on the contract on time.
When contacted, Susan Kataike, the Ministry of Works spokesperson, confirmed the suspension of the project, saying this is to give them time to sensitise motorists about it. According to the project, new vehicle and motorcycle owners will pay Shs714,000 while exchanging existing plates will cost Shs150,000 for motor vehicles and Shs50,000 for motorcycles.
“We are currently looking into some of the issues some people raised in Parliament and giving the enrollment exercise some more time. We want to handle whatever was in those petitions,” Ms Kataike said.
In July 2023, Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita) asked Parliament to investigate and address the unresolved inconsistencies in the project including among other things failure to set up installation centers, setting up a local factory to manufacture the digital number plates, and embarking on a countrywide sensitisation exercise on the plates.
The project is intended to track criminals who use vehicles and motorcycles, President Museveni said during the 2021 State-of-the-Nation address.
For now, the government continues to do the installation of digital number plates on government vehicles, an exercise that started last year in November. The activity is being done at the Works Ministry offices in Kampala and in Kawempe, a suburb in Kampala City where the contractors have a fitting centre.