Police authorities announced on Monday, January 15, the recovery of seven abandoned number plates for motorcycles and vehicles in a bush along Gayaza Road, specifically at the location identified as Kumbuzi.
The discovery was made during a routine maintenance operation conducted by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) team. Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, reported that the UNRA team promptly informed the traffic officer in charge of Kasangati Police, who, along with a team of officers, responded swiftly to the situation. The recovered plates are currently in the custody of Kasangati Police Station, pending further investigation to determine ownership.
Owoyesigyire clarified that, at this stage, no suspects have been apprehended. Additional details will be provided as the investigation progresses.
Notable among the recovered number plates are UAJ 254G, UAP 850B, UAY 984B, UAV 521N, UAN 760Y, and UAX 731P.
This development follows a recent surge in number plate theft, where criminals remove registration plates from vehicles or motorcycles and subsequently extort money from the owners. After leaving a contact number, victims who opt to pay the extortion fees, ranging between sh50,000 to sh300,000, are informed of the hidden location of their number plates.
Michael Kananura, the spokesperson for the Traffic and Safety Directorate, advises victims of number plate theft to report the incident to the police. Subsequently, they should publish details of the stolen number plate in newspapers, obtain an assessment form for payment of a motor vehicle registration plate replacement from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), pay the required fees to the bank, return receipts to URA, and finally collect the replacement number plate from the authorized issuer after payment.
