Two cabinet ministers have offered sharply contrasting accounts of Uganda’s controversial Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) and digital number plates project.
Public Service minister and former Works and Transport minister Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala defended the project as a security initiative designed to improve crime detection and vehicle tracking, while Water and Environment minister and former Internal Affairs minister Kahinda Otafiire dismissed it as “useless”, although he admitted he did not know how much the system’s performance had improved.
The two ministers appeared before parliament’s physical infrastructure committee, which is examining the project, with Otafiire questioning the value of the technology and the decision to abandon the previous vehicle registration plate arrangement.
“I don’t know whether they have improved, whether they have made it even better,” Otafiire told MPs.
His criticism focused on the system’s initial implementation, which he said involved installing only two computers at the Police Command Centre in Naguru.
“You know, they brought two computers. I’ve been away for a little time, so I don’t know if it would have improved, but my honest view is that there was no value added,” he said.
Otafiire’s remarks came shortly after MPs were taken through a live demonstration at the Naguru Police Command Centre of the digital number plate system’s vehicle-tracking capabilities.
Questions over previous CCTV system
Otafiire defended the earlier police surveillance infrastructure equipped with Huawei cameras, arguing that although it did not cover the entire country, the cameras installed were generally functional, with some failures attributable to technical problems.
“It didn’t cover the whole country. But where the police have installed cameras by Huawei, those who are, they are functional. Of course, some of them are not working, but that’s a technical problem, you know,” he said.
However, the Huawei-equipped CCTV system was itself embroiled in a major corruption controversy during Otafiire’s tenure as Internal Affairs minister.
In May 2026, President Yoweri Museveni ordered senior officials to take forced leave amid allegations of bribery linked to Shs 31.37 billion in dubious CCTV maintenance payments.
The allegations raised questions about the management and oversight of the surveillance infrastructure. They did not, however, establish that corruption caused the camera failures or that Otafiire personally benefited from the alleged scheme.
Otafiire also questioned the government’s decision to abandon the company associated with Kampala businessman Gordon Wavamunno, which had manufactured vehicle registration plates for years.
“Why did we abandon Wavamunno who were making number plates?” he asked.
Wavamunno’s GM Tumpeco had held a longstanding government contract to manufacture vehicle registration plates dating back to 2004.
Otafiire further questioned the sophistication of the digital tracking technology, arguing that commercially available fleet-monitoring systems were more advanced.
“Uber is a more advanced system than what we have on the ground because these are just the trackers,” he told MPs.
Otafiire’s earlier objections
Otafiire’s criticism of the digital number plate project is not new. In August 2023, while serving as Internal Affairs minister, he appeared before the same parliamentary committee and questioned the project’s procurement arrangements and the involvement of Uganda Police.
Nearly three years later, he returned with similar objections. The digital number plate programme was officially launched in November 2023 and continued operating and expanding throughout 2024 and 2025, when Otafiire was still responsible for overseeing the Police.
His latest remarks therefore raise questions about what measures were taken during that period to address the shortcomings he had identified, improve the system’s performance and strengthen Police involvement.
Otafiire’s own account suggests that relations with the police leadership were not always smooth. During his June 2026 handover, he publicly complained that some senior officers had repeatedly ignored his instructions.
However, his admission that he did not know whether the system had improved leaves open the question of how its performance was monitored during his tenure.
Katumba defends security rationale
Katumba offered a different account of the project’s origins, saying Museveni had directed the government to establish an integrated vehicle-monitoring system to support Police investigations.
“The whole project was mainly a security-related project,” Katumba said.
He explained that the initiative involved several government institutions, including Uganda Police, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, the ministry of Finance and the Solicitor General. The project also envisaged technology transfer and eventual participation by the National Enterprise Corporation.
The government’s justification has centred on using digital number plates and tracking technology to help investigators identify and locate vehicles linked to crime, including stolen motor vehicles.
Police Director of ICT AIGP Felix Baryamwisaki told the committee that 337 of 375 stolen motor vehicles had been tracked and recovered through the system, representing approximately 90 per cent of the reported cases.
The figures provide an indication of the system’s reported operational results, although the committee will need to examine the underlying records to establish how the recoveries were achieved and the extent to which they can be attributed to the digital number plate system.
The physical infrastructure committee is expected to assess the ministers’ submissions alongside operational evidence, procurement records and testimony from other stakeholders as it examines the project’s implementation and effectiveness.