URA Commissioner General (3rd Left) handing over Registration and Licensing of vehicles mandate to Works and Transport minister Gen Katumba Wamala on Wednesday.
On Wednesday November 3, 2021, the mandate of registering and licensing of motor vehicles formally returned to the Ministry of Works and Transport.
For the last decades, the mandate had been with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
However, following a decision of October 10, 2018, that the mandate returns to the line ministry, the Ministry of Works and Transport, URA Commissioner General, John Musinguzi Wednesday morning handed over the mandate back to the ministry.
“It is therefore my pleasure to handover this mandate to the jurisdiction of the MoWT effective today, 3 of November 2021,” URA CG Musinguzi said as he handed over the mandate to Works and Transport Minister, Gen. Katumba Wamala.
The CG says that the function over the years underwent several improvements starting with the development of a motor vehicle information system known as Movis in 1998 which system he said dealt with a lengthen and manual process of motor vehicle registration and that in 2014, there were further process improvements that created a one stop point for all motor vehicle services which “we have today.”
While under the URA, the CG says the URA headquarter service office was mandated to perform key roles such as; Collect and account for all non-tax revenue for all motor vehicle related matters such as registration, deregistration, transfers and modification among others; administer the provision of the Traffic and Road Safety Act as amended in 2020 relating to motor vehicle registration and licensing; keep the register of all motor vehicles and registration of plates as prescribed; furnish every applicant certified copies of any entry in the motor vehicle register; provide and record the modification of motor vehicles for cars or particulars of motor vehicle registration and cancel or sustain the registration of any motor vehicle, trailer or any for breach of the traffic and road safety act and regulations made under the act.
As a result of the mandate, Musinguzi told his guests that the URA headquarter office had been one of URA’s busiest service centres.
He, however, acknowledged that Under the Traffic and Road Safety Act, the Ministry of Works and Transport is mandated to manage and administer all motor vehicles, motorcycles and engineering plants found on the road.
The motor vehicle registry, he said, supports harmonized processes and will ensure increased efficiency.
Musinguzi commended the Ministry of Works and Transport for the great partnership “that we have had, for the contribution and as a strategic partner in the transport sector.
He added that: “We pledge to support this transition and will continue to support the ministry of works and transport by equipping the staff with knowledge and the requisite skills through the ongoing training.”
Musinguzi says that the motor vehicle registration service will also continue to be provided at the URA headquarters so as to utilize the current infrastructure and as part of URA’s ongoing support to the MoWT
To ensure a smooth transition, URA seconded 20 staff to the MoWT to ensure smooth and seamless transition.
The staff, according to the CG, will be at the Ministry for at least 3 months.
Musinguzi says that every effort has been made to ensure that the changes happening will be implemented without inconveniencing the motor vehicle owners or the taxpayers who we value as our clients.
“URA will support this transition process and will also support any policy changes for improvement of the sector administration while championing any service delivery improvement to ensure that our collaboration and partnership enables us to mobilize and collect more revenue from this sector for national development,” the CG pledged.
Earlier, the Acting Commissioner Domestic Taxes Sandra Kaitare had said that already in this Financial Year, motor vehicle registration and licensing generated Shs 7.5 million in revenue.
She is however confident that the revenue collection will grow even further with MoWT’s wider reach.
“We are confident that revenues will grow even higher under the Ministry of Works and Transport because Works and Transport has a higher reach under the Transport and Road Safety Act,” Kaitare said.
According to Kaitare, URA was serving an approximate number of 4000 to 5000 on a monthly basis.
To the 20 staff sent to the MoWT, Kaitare asked them to “remember our core values – professionalism, integrity and patriotism. Please work as you have worked here. Work under the guidance of the ministry and follow due instructions.”
To the ministry of works team, she said: “we pledge unwavering support to have this smooth transition. We can only get better, serve better and make our country proud.”
Speaking as the Chief Guest, Works and Transport Minister Gen. Katumba Wamala said: “URA was overburdened. For them all they need to know is how much taxes are coming in. They were not responsible for tracking the vehicle. So, it’s in the right direction that we move this into the ministry responsible because the system which was being used by URA is more tax oriented. It doesn’t look into the critical aspects like road worthiness, complete cycle of the vehicle.”
Katumba says with the system, the authorities need to track a motor vehicle from the day it enters Uganda to the time it gets off the road.
“We should be able to do that. We want to ensure that we have a proper follow through of the vehicles on its lifetime so long as it’s within the country,” he said.
He says that the new registration system provides a credible and complete motor vehicle registration database for proper planning of rad infrastructure services.
“In order to plan our roads well, we need to know. How many vehicles. Traffic volumes are what we use in planning what kind of infrastructure we are going to make. So, if we don’t have that then we go into guess work or we go into a system of standing on the road and counting,” he explained adding, “We are in a modern world, we should be able to use the data and use the information to do our planning.”
The General says that the system further provides effective and efficient law enforcement on account of easy identification of motor vehicle ownership and improves road safety.
With the system, Katumba says that every vehicle and the owner will be directly linked to the full history of the vehicle and operator of the vehicle.
It will also provide for improved services through decentralization of services with a view of getting them close to the users and reducing the cost of doing business.
On non-tax revenue, Katumba said “we expect it to increase on account of efficiency gains achieved through improved operational service delivery.”
The system, he says, will also be talking to the EPS of Police, URA, URSB, NIRA and Insurance Authority.
“So, we should be able to integrate all these systems together,” he said.
I hope URA will continue working with Ministry of Works and Transport.