Uganda’s digital plates pass MPs’ tracking test as costs take centre stage

Ugandan lawmakers put their own vehicle registration plates into a police tracking demonstration rather than accept a prepared display. The test persuaded Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure that the national Digital Number Plate System can identify and track vehicles, according to Daily Monitor Uganda (direct). But that finding leaves another challenge for the project: how to deliver the plates efficiently and bring down costs for motorists.

The committee, led by chairperson Mwine Mpaka, inspected the Police Command Centre in Naguru on October 2. Its visit followed questions raised at parliamentary hearings on September 28 about whether the project’s security features actually worked. MPs had asked for practical evidence, not just administrative reports. At Naguru, they watched live vehicle identification, the handling of data and how the system connects with police teams working in the field.

Two days after those hearings, senior command officials had presented performance figures to legislators. Police ICT director AIGP Felix Baryamwisaki said officers had tracked and recovered 337 of 375 vehicles reported stolen, describing that as a 90% recovery rate. The committee then used its own registration plates during the inspection to check the system’s capabilities independently, rather than relying on a demonstration selected in advance.

From tracking proof to delivery costs

After the demonstration, Mpaka said the committee had established that both cars and motorcycles could be tracked. He described the system as important while stressing the need for improvements. His account placed the remaining scrutiny on the price of implementation and the contractor’s ability to deliver, rather than on whether the tracking function existed.

The committee’s focus is on cost and contractor capacity, not opposition to the project, Mpaka said.

The inspection also addressed concerns previously raised about privacy and data sovereignty—where information is held and controlled. Lt. Gen. Sam Okiding, a UPDF representative in Parliament and deputy chief of defence forces, said the system’s data-management infrastructure was located entirely within Uganda. His statement addressed the location of that infrastructure, an issue legislators had raised alongside questions about the system’s operational performance.

Factory output comes under scrutiny

The Naguru visit followed an earlier committee inspection of the central digital number plate manufacturing plant. There, lawmakers examined production lines, stocks of raw materials and the process for fitting plates. Factory management reported daily output of 2,500 plate kits and monthly output of 50,000. Management said that production had cleared earlier backlogs in issuing plates, giving MPs another measure of how the project was being delivered beyond its police tracking functions.

The plant directly employs more than 300 Ugandans and supports an estimated 900 auxiliary jobs, according to the report. It also reported an 80% localisation rate and was described as East Africa’s first full-cycle plate manufacturing facility. Those figures put local production and employment alongside security performance in the committee’s review of the project.

Parliament acknowledged improvements in tracking performance and the time taken to fit plates. The next point to watch is the committee’s forthcoming report. It is expected to focus on better coordination between institutions, changes to police administrative procedures and lower costs for motorists—the delivery questions that remain after MPs accepted the system’s tracking capabilities.