Whistleblowers raise alarm over fresh Shs158bn in digital plates procurement

KAMPALA – Whistleblowers in Uganda’s transport sector have raised the alarm over a planned Shs158bn procurement by the Ministry of Works and Transport. They say it would hand fresh public money to the Russian company already running the country’s digital number plate system, for work it should already be doing.

The group says the ministry is in “advanced stages” of hiring Joint Stock Company Global Security (JSCGS) to supply what it calls “Modular Motor Vehicle Registration Components” at a cost of about Shs158bn.

The whistleblowers argue that the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), under which JSCGS supplies Uganda’s digital plates, was justified as a complete system covering vehicle registration, tracking and number plates.

“Procuring registration components separately from the same vendor amounts to paying twice for the same function,” their report says.

The report, first seen by Nile Post, is addressed to President Yoweri Museveni, Parliament and the public. It is unsigned and does not include supporting documents. The group describes itself as concerned citizens from the transport and road safety sector.

The ministry has not publicly confirmed the value of the deal. However, Parliament’s budget documents list supervision of “Motor Vehicle Registration Modular Components by Global Security on the ITMS platform” among the ministry’s planned activities.

The alarm comes as motor dealers, customs agents and traders complain of plate shortages, registration backlogs and the cost of a new set of digital plates, which is Shs714,300.

The ITMS is run by the Ministries of Works and Transport and of Security, with JSCGS as the service provider. The government says the system is meant to improve vehicle tracking, road safety, traffic management and revenue collection, and that the plates carry electronic tracking technology.

The whistleblowers question the decision to keep JSCGS without open, competitive bidding. They say this would tie Uganda to a single supplier and hand one foreign company a continuing hold over the national vehicle register, its data and future revenue.

They describe the Shs158bn price as exorbitant compared with what they call regional benchmarks for similar systems, though they do not name them. They add that the spending comes at a time when the government says it is rationalising expenditure.

The group also says that queries raised by the Auditor General and Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure about the original contract remain largely unanswered in public. It says those queries covered value for money, ownership of data and the procurement method.

The whistleblowers have asked Mr Museveni and Works and Transport Minister Fred Byamukama to halt the procurement pending a review.

They want the Inspectorate of Government, the Auditor General and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) to investigate the procurement and how it relates to the existing ITMS contract. They have also asked Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure and the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to summon Ministry of Works and Transport officials to explain why the extra spending is needed.

“We shall not allow Uganda to be mortgaged through number plates,” the report says.

The latest concerns echo doubts raised inside government years ago. According to documents reviewed by Nile Post, the government was presented with a proposed ITMS cost of $127m, about Shs449bn at the time.

In a review dated 22 August 2022, the Ministry of Finance said the feasibility study did not contain enough information to show whether the project was affordable or offered value for money. It said the financial model needed to set out costs, repayment arrangements, fiscal obligations and possible liabilities had not been provided.

“There is no assessment on the affordability of the project to the Ministry of Security and Office of the President,” the ministry said, according to Nile Post. It also asked how the project would affect the national budget and whether extra funds would be needed during implementation.

On 9 September 2022, then Finance Minister Matia Kasaija wrote to the late Security Minister Gen Elly Tumwine and then Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, saying the project did not meet the standard of a public-private partnership that the President had earlier set out, according to the Daily Monitor.

The project grew out of Mr Museveni’s push for vehicle tracking to fight crime. In a June 2018 address to Parliament, he set out several security measures, including tracking vehicles and motorcycles, installing CCTV cameras and fingerprinting firearms.

In a letter dated 18 November 2019, he directed that the Russian company be allowed to work with the Ministries of Works and Security, and told officials to avoid delays and duplicated systems.

The 10-year agreement was signed in Kampala in July 2021 by then Security Minister Jim Muhwezi, a retired major general. It followed Mr Museveni’s order for tracking devices to be fitted in all vehicles and motorcycles, after the June 2021 attempt on the life of then Works Minister Gen Katumba Wamala.

The plates were rolled out in stages: government vehicles first, from November 2023, then motorcycles and tricycles from November 2024, and newly imported private and public vehicles from January 2025. According to the ITMS portal, a new set of plates costs Shs714,300 for both vehicles and motorcycles, while replacing old plates costs Shs150,000 for a vehicle and Shs50,000 for a motorcycle.

The rollout has come under growing pressure. Parliament planned to scrutinise the ITMS project in August, but the inquiry was postponed after the ministries responsible asked for more time to coordinate their responses.

In September, the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) told Parliament that plate shortages were disrupting the motor trade, with dealers saying customers had waited weeks or even months for plates.

The Committee on Physical Infrastructure, chaired by Mbarara City South MP Mwine Mpaka, has since opened a fact-finding inquiry. Mr Mpaka told stakeholders that the delays were costing the country more than Shs4bn a week, and that daily plate output had fallen from about 350 to 100. He also said the committee would ask, through the Speaker, to meet the President for guidance.

Earlier, Mr Byamukama visited the plate factory in Kyambogo and ordered the contractor to clear production bottlenecks by 30 August 2026. JSCGS accepted the deadline and blamed the delays on supply chain disruptions caused by conflict in the Middle East.

The whistleblowers’ report now puts the proposed Shs158bn procurement at the centre of fresh questions over the cost, scope and accountability of Uganda’s digital vehicle registration system.