The Government of Uganda is set to issue digital number plates for all categories of vehicles and motorcycles in a phased manner, effective November this year.
According to Jim Muhwezi, the Minister for Security, the government will start issuing registration plates to new motorcycles on November 1, 2024, and the full roll-out of all categories of vehicles and motorcycles will commence on January 6, 2025.
“Currently at the facility are 107,014 registration plates, along with 3,662 trackers and 17,679 BLE beacons, with more components expected in the country in the next few weeks,” Muhwezi said.
While addressing the members of the press at the Uganda Media in Kampala on Thursday, July 4, 2024, Minister Muhwezi noted that with government efforts to materialize this idea, the government has set up a facility at Kawempe for the local production of registration plates and has installed four hot stamping machines, four embossment machines, and will soon receive blank plates and hot stamping materials with security features.
“The motor vehicle registration system on ITMS, which includes the booking system, the verification system, and the stock control system, is substantially complete,” Muhwezi said.
He also added that improvements to the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) and E-Tax to facilitate the per-registration processes of vehicles at the ports of Mombasa and Dar el Salaam and in bonds are also nearly complete.
According to Muhwezi, the provision to facilitate assessment for payment of fees for the new registration plates by government entities is also complete and is currently available for MDAs.
The joint media statement by Minister Muhwezi and Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport, reveals that construction of fitment centers at the Mutukula and Malaba border points is ongoing.
The government of Uganda signed an agreement with Joint Stock Global Security to deliver digital number plates to enhance security, traffic management, and revenue collection, among others, close to three years ago. However, Muhwezi said the project has been slowed by logistical challenges on the part of the service providers, partly caused by the ongoing escalations between Ukraine and Russia.
