By Florence Namuganza
Uganda Revenue Authority has handed over the registration and licensing of motor vehicles to Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) after 30 years of manning the function.
The move follows a government decision to transfer the administration and management of the Motor Vehicle Registration from the Revenue body to the Works Ministry as mandated under the Traffic and Road Safety Act. The Act mandates MoWT to manage and administer all Motor vehicles, Motorcycles and Engineering plants found on the roads.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Minster of Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamula, described the move to have the function under the Ministry as one that is strategic for regulation and follow-up of automobiles’ lifecycle on Ugandan roads.
“The Ministry will streamline and facilitate motor vehicle registration and also make sure that we keep clean records from the time an auto mobile sets onto the road until the time it finally gets off,” Gen Katumba explained.
The Minister also hinted on the security aspect which will be addressed by streamlining of the function under his docket. Katumba revealed that moving the motor vehicle registration is also in preparation of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System Project (ITMSP). The system followed a directive from the President of Uganda in June this year to have all motor cycles and vehicles installed with tracking devices. This is intended to ease tracking of criminals after a series of boda-boda shootings.
According to Katumba, ITMSP will require a reliable and credible database in order to effectively track and monitor auto-mobiles in the country.
The URA Commissioner General, John Rujoki Musinguzi said that the Authority will provide support to the Ministry through training of staff. In addition to this, URA has seconded 20 staff to ensure a seamless transition.
The transition of motor vehicle registration and licensing was initiated through a phased approach which was cemented with a Memorandum of Understanding to define stakeholder roles. In February 2020, a project managed by Integrated Transport Solutions Limited was set up to digitise and archive all manual files that existed in URA’s Headquarter Service Office.
Meanwhile, URA will still remain responsible for motor vehicle customs clearance and issue first-time number plates for newly imported motor vehicles.
