Crime: Govt to merge CCTV, digital plate data
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen Katumba Wamala (left), and his counterpart for Security, Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, appear before MPs on the Physical Infrastructure Committee on August 8, 2023. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Officials say the number plates contain a microchip that enables the police to track vehicles.
The Ugandan government has unveiled plans to integrate road traffic data from its national CCTV network with digital number plate details, aiming to enhance crime prevention.
The ministries of Works and Internal Affairs will jointly implement this initiative, coinciding with the third phase of CCTV camera installations in previously uncovered areas.
Senior police officials, led by the State Minister for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abbas Byakagaba, disclosed this plan during a March 11 meeting with the parliamentary Defence Committee, where they addressed queries regarding CCTV phases I, II, and III.
AIGP Felix Baryamwisaki, the director of ICT, informed MPs that this integration would be a key feature of the third CCTV phase, designed to swiftly apprehend criminals on Uganda’s roads.
“These issues that we need to sort out in this third phase and currently, the system which is being upgraded has already started tapping into motor vehicle registration data and so we need to be improving,” he stated.
He added: “Since there are so many junctions that are being worked on, we are likely to have those intelligent traffic lights that will remove these [police traffic] officers to concentrate on their normal job of enforcement.”
The Minister of Works, Gen Katumba Wamala, addressing the Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety on March 21, also indicated the planned installation of smart traffic lights to improve road discipline.
The Director of Corporate Communications at the M/S Joint Stock Company Mr Mikhail Shubin(in white T shirt) and the PR Manager Ms Daria Labutina explain how the ITMS works in digital number plates
Police plan to fully deploy this integrated approach upon completion of the third CCTV phase, pending funding. Undersecretary Aggrey Wunyi confirmed that phase three is “still under design and budget solicitation”.
The introduction of digital number plates, aimed at curbing crime as announced by President Museveni in his 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA), followed a surge in criminal activities, particularly in the central region. The government contracted Russian-based M/S Joint Stock Company Global Security for the project, which operates a digital number plate facility in Kawempe North, Kampala.
This plan follows the recent activation of the third phase of digital plate roll-out, part of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), which uses microchip-embedded plates for vehicle tracking.
Works ministry spokesperson Suzan Kataike announced at the January 6 Malaba launch that “newly imported vehicles and motorcycles will be issued with digital number plates before they enter the country”.
Prior to this, digital plates were rolled out for motorcycles and government vehicles, with Ms Kataike stating: “We were dealing directly with the dealers to ensure that no motorcycle leaves the dealership without a digital plate”.
The government is now using former Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) offices for digital plate roll-out outside Kampala, in addition to border points at Malaba and Mutukula.
Mr Mikhail Shubin, the director of corporate communications at Joint Stock Company, stated that the Kawempe facility produces 1,000 plate sets daily, with plans to increase capacity to 4,000.
Mr Austin Egesa, the overall production supervisor at the Kawempe-based facility, revealed that production includes plates for central government, public and private vehicles and trucks. The others include those produced for public and private motorcycles, local government, diplomatic and high commissions plus duty-free multipurpose number plates.
Mr Gilbert Heavenfalls, the supervisor at the ITMS Malaba fitting centre, explained how digital number plates are installed on vehicles.
“The first process we go through when the car comes from Mombasa Kenya, the car first goes to URA [Uganda Revenue Authority] to clear taxes and verify if the car is in good condition. It is after that process that they hand over the car to us for installation,” he said.
“Once the car reaches our station, an officer from the Ministry of Works verifies if the car aligns with what URA records reflect. It is at this point that we at the ITMS check to confirm in our system on the payment details of the client and then we assess the mechanical condition,” he added.
BACKGROUND
The National CCTV Network Expansion Project saw the government take out a $104 million (Shs376b) loan in 2018 to ease the gathering of intelligence, which would in turn unlock crime puzzles that threatened to be fiendishly complex. While CCTV cameras can be a valuable tool in identifying suspects and solving crimes, Daily Monitor has in the past reported that their effectiveness has been questioned.
