Only 240 govt cars so far fitted with digital plates
Mechanics fix new number plates on one of the government vehicles after their launch at the Ministry of Works and Transport headquarters in Kampala on November 1, 2023. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- 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
At least 240 government vehicles have so far been fixed with digital number plates, a concrete explanation for why very few have lately been sighted on the road, Monitor has learnt.
The installation exercise started last year on November 1 following the official launch of the plates in Kampala.
Speaking to this publication on March 18, Ms Susan Kataike, the Ministry of Works and Transport spokesperson, said the fitted cars belong to their ministry and police.
Ms Kataike said: “These number plates do not come at once, but rather, batches. But also, they are not being manufactured from here. They come from Poland [a country in Central Europe], so there is a process.”
Getting the number plates from Poland to Uganda, Ms Kataike is not such an easy process partly because of the ongoing sanctions on Russia, a transcontinental country, located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, which has for the last two years been facing sanctions from Western nations for invading Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe.
The Russian company, Joint Stock Company Global Security, signed a contract in 2021 with the Ugandan government to provide the digital plates. The Russian company is producing the plates from Poland and transporting them to Uganda for the exercise.
“We are hoping that by that time [July 1], they [contractors] would have finished building a factory here such that the number plates are locally produced here,” Ms Kataike said.
The project intends to track criminals who use vehicles and motorcycles, President Museveni said during the 2021 State-of-the-Nation address. The current government vehicle installation exercise is being done at the Works ministry offices in Kampala and in Kawempe, a suburb in Kampala City suburb, where the contractors have a fitting centre.
The Works ministry could not provide the exact number of government vehicles in the country, saying they are in the process of listing them.
However, statistics from the Works ministry indicate that by May 31 last year, there were about 1, 820, 474 government and private vehicles in the country, with 1,184, 651 of them being motorcycles and 635, 823 belonging to other categories.
The population of Ugandans stands at about 46 million.
Unlike private vehicles, the government ones bear unique plates with the most identifiable corresponding initials bearing the logo-UG and other corresponding initials depending on the respective Ministry.
After fitting in the plates on the Works Ministry and police vehicles, Ms Kataike said they would then move to the ministries of Health and Education.
For private vehicles, the mass installation exercise will commence on July 1 to allow the government to, among other things, do more sensitisation countrywide, and handle critical logistical issues as well as other concerns surrounding the exercise.
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.
