Members of Parliament on the Committee on Physical Infrastructure have inspected Uganda Police’s Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), confirming that the technology can track vehicles fitted with digital number plates.
The inspection, led by committee chairperson Mwine Mpaka, was conducted on Friday at the Uganda Police National Control and Command Centre in Naguru, Kampala, amid parliamentary scrutiny of the digital number plate project.
The visit followed questions raised by MPs over whether the tracking component of the system was delivering the security benefits used to justify the project.
Police Director of ICT AIGP Felix Baryamwisaki, who manages the ITMS, told the committee that police had recovered 337 of 375 stolen motor vehicles tracked through the system, representing a recovery rate of about 90 percent.
The figures, however, do not apply equally to motorcycles.
Baryamwisaki said police had recovered 174 of 782 stolen motorcycles fitted with digital number plates, representing a recovery rate of about 22 percent. He said the tracking technology relies on GPS rather than cameras.
The MPs visited the command centre to see the system operating rather than relying solely on information presented during parliamentary hearings.
Police officials demonstrated how the system identifies vehicles, processes information and supports law-enforcement operations, including the tracking of vehicles fitted with digital plates.
After the demonstration, Mpaka said the committee had established that both cars and motorcycles could be tracked, but called for improvements to the system.
“Yes, indeed, we have established that cars and motorbikes can be tracked. The issue of digital number plates is clearly important. We just need to see how we can improve the system,” Mpaka said.
The inspection came days after Security Minister Jim Muhwezi told the committee that the tracking system was operational across Uganda and could trace vehicles beyond the country’s borders.
Muhwezi cited the recovery of a stolen Police vehicle in Kenya, saying it had been traced using the digital plates.
“The system is working; it covers the whole country,” Muhwezi told MPs.
The committee is also examining other aspects of the digital number plate project, including the cost of the plates, delays in supply, contractor capacity and implementation.
Parliament reported that officials had previously faced questions over the Shs714,300 cost of a new set of digital number plates, while MPs have also been scrutinising a proposed procurement involving the company implementing the digital plate component of the ITMS.
The committee’s inspection therefore provided practical evidence on one part of a wider project that remains under parliamentary review.
Police’s reported recovery figures also highlight a gap between the performance of the system for motor vehicles and motorcycles, with the latter recording a substantially lower recovery rate.
