Motorist leaders in Kisoro district expressed mixed reactions to a two-year ultimatum for motorists to migrate to digital number plates under the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS).
This follows an announcement by Susan Kataike, the principal communications officer at the Ministry of Works and Transport, during a press briefing in Mbale on Sunday.
The phased rollout of the program began in November 2023 with the installation of digital plates on government vehicles. To date, 2,143 government vehicles have been fitted with the new plates.
In November 2024, the initiative expanded to include the registration of new motorcycles. So far, 11,721 private and public motorcycles have been equipped with digital number plates.
The third phase, commencing January 6, 2025, will focus on new motor vehicles entering the country. These vehicles will be required to have digital number plates installed at a cost of Shs700,000. Vehicle owners will begin transitioning from old plates at a fee of Shs50,000 for motorcycles and Shs150,000 for motor vehicles.
Baker Batamukoraho, the General Secretary of the Kisoro United Boda Boda Association, expressed concern about the expensive fees associated with acquiring these digital number plates. He noted that this is another way of burdening motorists with increased prices and taxes when purchasing motor vehicles.
Batamukoraho stated, “The Government of Uganda is exploiting the motorcyclist. At least the government should be the one to pay for the replacement fee of digital number plates.”
However, Nizeyimana Lawrence, the Chairperson of the Kisoro Transporters Association, argued that the cost of digitalizing number plates is minimal compared to the cost of purchasing the vehicle. He urged motorists to embrace the initiative.
Nizeyimana stated, “Digital number plates are important because they will help to improve security through motor theft eradication. I cannot fail to digitalize the number plate for a vehicle that cost me millions of money.”
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Mbonyebyombi, a stage master at Line Stage, dismissed the digitalization of number plates as counterfeit and unfair, citing concerns about potential malfunctions in digital displays that could lead to incorrect or missing information.
Shadra Nfitumukiza, another stage master at Kindly Stage A, acknowledged the Ministry of Works and Transport for introducing the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) initiative with advanced security features capable of detecting traffic violations and tracking criminal activity among motorists.
