The Minister of Water and Environment, Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, has renewed his criticism of Uganda’s digital number plate project, describing it as a “hocksy” and questioning its effectiveness.
Otafiire made the remarks while appearing before Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Mbarara South MP MwineMpaka, which is investigating alleged mismanagement and the performance of the project.
He told MPs that while serving as Minister of Internal Affairs, he advised the government to suspend the project involving Russian company Stock Venture instead of replacing WavaMuno, the then distributor of number plates.
Otafiire said he had raised concerns about the compatibility of the digital number plate technology with existing traffic surveillance cameras. He also questioned why the police, the agency expected to use the system, had been excluded from the contract negotiations.
He added that concerns about the system’s reliability were heightened by reports that similar initiatives in Kenya had failed.
According to Otafiire, police discovered after the system was installed that it functioned more like a fleet management tool than the advanced intelligent transport monitoring system that had been presented to the government.
He also questioned the system’s ability to track vehicles whose digital number plates had been removed or stolen, raising further concerns about its effectiveness in vehicle identification and monitoring.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee is in the final stages of engaging witnesses and other stakeholders involved in the digital number plate project.
The committee is expected to table its report before Parliament for further consideration once the consultations are concluded.
By Francis Lubega
14th Oct 2026
END