Gen Otafiire raises red flag over digital number plates
Internal Affairs minister Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire appears before Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs committee on July 6. PHOTO / DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Queries. “I don’t know who is doing what. And what is disappointing is the police, who would have been the principal actor, were largely kept out,” Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire
The minister of Internal Affairs has raised concern about the digital number plates’ project ahead of its planned roll out later this year.
Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, who was appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure yesterday, revealed that he was not aware which exact people in government signed the contract with the Russian company, Joint Stock Company Global Security, that is installing the digital trackers on cars.
“I have never signed that thing. If I sign, I take responsibility. If I don’t, I don’t take responsibility. I don’t know who signed. The thing started in 2019. Me, I am just part of the cog in the whole machine,” Gen Otafiire said, drawing laughter from lawmakers.
The minister, whose docket is among those supposed to be overseeing the project, made reference to the year 2019 because this was when the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian company.
“I don’t know who is doing what. And what is disappointing is the police, who would have been the principal actor, were largely kept out,” he added.
Gen Otafiire’s response came after Mr Jonathan Ebwalu (Soroti West Division) and Mr Henry Maurice Kibalya (Bugabula South) asked him whether he had any knowledge of who signed the contract with the Russian firm and whether the latter is competent to do the job.
Chaired by Mr Dan Kimosho (Kazo County), the committee is investigating the number plates’ contract following a petition to Parliament in July by Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita) who raised serious concerns about the project, including the cost.
Following a fact-finding mission in Moscow, Russia, by a team of Ugandan officials in March, Mr Kimosho asked the minister whether he was aware of the findings of the group.
Gen Otafiire said there was, “nothing in the report.”
“The highlight of the report was that they did not see any manufacturing of the number plates [in Russia]….then they said the production was being done in Poland and that was my concern because Poland is technically at war with Russia and, therefore, any Russian company operating in Poland would be [penalised],” he said.
Gen Otafiire added that he had never even seen any vehicle in the country with either a dummy or piloted digitalised number plate. “None that has been brought to my attention. I have never seen any,” he said.
Some legislators asked the minister to resign when he said he was not aware that the Russian company was setting up fitting centres in various car bonds in the country.
But Gen Otafiire responded that he is a macro and not a micro manager who should be knowing everything happening in the ministry. He then requested the committee to seek further responses from the respective ministries of Works and Finance over the project.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General John Musinguzi, who also appeared before the same committee, raised several issues about the readiness to implement the project.
“This process, we have not been part of it. What we received were instructions to integrate our system for revenue sharing and that is when we asked for more information and that has not happened,” Mr Musinguzi said.
Mr Kimosho said the committee will conduct some site visits before making their final report, which they hope to present in the House next week.
