Car owners in Uganda are to register their vehicles and motorcycles afresh in order to attain digital number plates. The new government strategy to fight increasing rates of crime in the country will cost the car owners shs735.000/$200. Mr. Ggoobi Ramathan, the Permanent secretary for ministry of Finance in a February circular said; “Registration of
Car owners in Uganda are to register their vehicles and motorcycles afresh in order to attain digital number plates. The new government strategy to fight increasing rates of crime in the country will cost the car owners shs735.000/$200.
Mr. Ggoobi Ramathan, the Permanent secretary for ministry of Finance in a February circular said; “Registration of new as well as replacement of all old government of Uganda number plates for vehicles and motorcycles will each cost Shs735,000 or $200.”
He asked the accounting officers to budget for fresh registration of all government vehicles and motorcycles under their supervision.
“Accounting officers are advised to make adequate provisions under the item for vehicle maintenance to cater for the cost of new registration and the change of the existing number plates for both motor vehicles and motorcycles in their respective votes,” he said.
Ms. Susan Kataike, the ministry’s principal public relations officer when asked on the same said. “This registration will follow the driver licensing system, whereby Uganda Revenue Authority will collect the money and remit it to the consolidated account. The auditor general will audit the accounts and after that government will know how to pay the company. The money is not going directly to the company,”
Uganda has an estimated number of vehicles close to 2.4 million and more than 1.4 million motorcycles. If each one of them register afresh, that would be a collection in of 2.8 trillion.
David Musoke, secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ union predicts that this will only increase transport fares Stretching the already crying Ugandan to more poverty. He also pointed out countries like South Africa that rolled out digital number plates yet still have very high crime rate in the urban areas suggesting that this isn’t the solution to crime except government just needs more revenue.
The details on how the exercise will run are still hanging.
Courtesy photo.
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