KAMPALA — Government is quietly preparing sweeping reforms that could push car agents and middlemen out of Uganda’s motor vehicle registration system, with officials accusing sections of the industry of deliberately frustrating motorists for profit, ChimpReports has learned. 

Highly placed sources within the Ministry of Works and Transport say the move follows mounting complaints from motorists, used car dealers and security agencies over inflated costs, unexplained delays and manipulation of the digital number plate rollout process.

The issue dominated a closed door stakeholder meeting chaired by Works and Transport Minister Edward Katumba Wamala on Monday, bringing together vehicle dealers, clearing agents, officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority and representatives of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS). While the meeting was officially presented as a consultation to streamline vehicle registration, multiple sources told ChimpReports the discussions exposed growing government frustration with car agents accused of turning the registration process into what one official described as “a business of engineered delays.” 

“We are here to make our system smooth and iron out any shortfalls,” Gen Katumba Wamala told stakeholders. “As stakeholders, feel free to raise areas that need improvement for the new regime of motor vehicle registration and number plate issuance.”

However, behind the diplomatic language, officials directly blamed some agents for sabotaging the system while misleading desperate vehicle owners.

Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety Winstone Katushabe revealed that although most vehicles are technically processed within hours, many motorists continue facing unnecessary delays because agents fail to complete procedures after receiving money from clients.

“Out of the 77,410 cars that were released, 95% of these cars are worked on within eight hours. However, the blame is on clearing agents, who fail to complete required processes and deliberately delay their clients for financial gain,” Katushabe said.

According to officials who attended the meeting, government is increasingly leaning toward a fully digitised and traceable registration system where vehicle owners and dealers can directly process applications through the Motor Vehicle Registration portal without depending on middlemen.

Officials said some agents have been exploiting public anxiety surrounding digital number plates by falsely claiming that there are no plates available or that vehicles have not yet been scheduled for installation.

In reality, officials say, many applications are never submitted on time despite agents already collecting money from clients.

The meeting heard that more than 1,338 vehicles have remained pending for over two months because of errors committed during documentation and customs clearance processes handled by agents.

Transport ministry officials said the delays have damaged public confidence and created the perception that the digital number plate system itself is failing, when much of the problem lies within the human handling chain.

Katushabe recommended broader use of the MVR portal to allow motorists independently track who is handling their applications and identify where delays occur.

The revelations come as government attempts to accelerate implementation of the controversial Intelligent Transport Monitoring System, which introduced digital number plates as part of broader security and traffic enforcement reforms.

Joseph Tumwine of ITMS told the meeting that the company has significantly expanded production capacity at its Kyambogo facility and now manufactures about 2,500 number plate kits daily using more than 300 Ugandan workers.

By ChimpReports