The Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire
Dr Kenneth Omona, Principal Private Secretary to President Museveni has denied allegations that State House hid the letter the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, had written to the President warning him not to sideline the current manufacturer of number plates, in preference for a foreign company.
Omona made the pronouncement on social media site X formerly Twitter reacting to statements made by Otafiire while appearing before Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee.
“I wish to allay Hon Otaffire’s fears. The president’s response may take some time to have a better appreciation, he may also choose to respond in another way other than writing such as meeting the concerned persons, which may be the case here!” wrote Owana.
It should be recalled that yesterday, Otafiire informed the Committee that he wrote a letter to President Museveni raising concern about sidelining the current local manufacturer of number plates in preference for a foreign Company but he never received a response to his letter, prompting him to assume some forces beyond his control could have intercepted the President’s letter.
“I wrote that the Russian company can work with the current manufacturers of number plates in Uganda and explore the possibility of putting their chips on the number plates in Uganda, and I intimated to him that it would be a bit insensitive for us to shut down a local manufacturer in favour of importation of number plates when we can do it here. I never received reply. I highly doubt if the President ever saw my letter, I suspect he hasn’t seen the letter because the President that I know would have written to me or called me for a conversation. I will bring it to his attention, now that you have mentioned it, when I see him,” said Otafiire.
Gerald Rwemulikya (Ntoroko County) backed the Minister for trying to protect the local number plate manufacturer stating, “So, we want to know who are these people who went and did due diligence? We have Wavamunno who is manufacturing number plates, if they wanted, they would bring their company on board and put their chips. Closing our own and bringing in these Russians, that was very unfair, and I am happy you wrote to the President. If it needs, we can interact with the President if he got the letter.”
The Minister also denied Police and Ministry of Internal Affairs involvement in the hike in price for the digital number plates from Shs150,000 to Shs714,300, a cost he described as too high especially foo boda boda riders.
The Minister in response said, “I am unhappy about the cost, but unfortunately, I am not the one who determines the cost. I have heard about the cost in the press, nobody has brought it to my attention to address, so my role in that aspect is limited.”
The investigation into the digital number plate project followed a petition by Kampala Capital City Traders Association (KACITA) who petitioned Parliament, asking to have the digital number plate project to be halted over the high cost to be charged, until the cost is revised, prompting Speaker Among to refer the petition to the Physical Infrastructure Committee for scrutiny before a final decision is taken by Parliament.
