Museveni warns MPs on digital number plate report accuracy
President cautions legislators against inaccurate findings in the controversial digital number plates project.
President Yoweri Museveni has cautioned members of parliament investigating Uganda’s controversial digital number plates project against producing inaccurate reports. The warning, disclosed by the permanent secretary in the Office of the President, Yunus Kakande, follows a State House meeting last Thursday where legislators raised concerns about the project’s rising costs and contractual arrangements with Russian firm Joint Stock Company Global Security (JSCGS).
Kakande stated that Museveni recognised parliament’s oversight role but advised legislators against reaching conclusions without adequately engaging the technical teams implementing the project. The parliamentary investigation, led by the Physical Infrastructure Committee chaired by Mbarara City South MP Mwine Mpaka, has examined allegations of shortcomings in the vehicle-tracking technology.
The digital number plates initiative followed Museveni’s 2018 directive to strengthen vehicle identification and tracking after a series of high-profile assassinations. The government entered into an agreement with JSCGS in 2021 to implement the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), with motorists paying Shs 714,300 for new digital plates.
Why it mattersMembers of Parliament are investigating the digital number plates project, which has escalating costs and contractual issues.