A group of nine legislators had disowned the majority committee report approving the implementation of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), revealing that the deal with Russian firm Joint Stock Company Global Security was marred by legal breaches, financial deception, and procurement irregularities.
The minority report, led by Rukiga County MP Roland Ndyomugenyi, demanded immediate termination of the 10-year agreement signed on July 23, 2021, describing it as a scandal poised to fleece Ugandans through exaggerated traffic fines.
However, the Parliament moved forward with the controversial scheme, approving the Statutory Instrument on the express penalty scheme for road traffic offenders on July 19, 2024.
The deal, now implemented as part of the highly unpopular Express Penalty Scheme (EPS), has triggered public outrage for its sweeping camera-based traffic enforcement.
“There was no due diligence done. The government failed to investigate the technical and financial ability of the company. We are dealing with a briefcase firm,” Ndyomugenyi told Parliament.
The report, tabled in response to a motion by Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi, scrutinised the performance and legal standing of Global Security.
The dissenting MPs—drawn from NUP, FDC, UPC, and even NRM—highlighted that the company was insolvent in its home country and had never executed a project of similar scale.
Between 2019 and 2021, the firm faced at least eight bankruptcy-related lawsuits in Russia, including claims by creditors amounting to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
“How can we entrust such a company with a multi-million dollar public infrastructure project?” the MPs queried.
Flawed Financial Model to Milk Fines
The minority report shreds the financial model underpinning the ITMS project, branding it as a tool to extract nearly a billion dollars from Ugandans, primarily through traffic fines.
According to the contract, the project anticipates revenue of $996 million (Shs3.8 trillion), of which over $510 million (Shs1.9 trillion) is expected from traffic penalties—particularly speed violations, stop line infractions, and red light offences.
Yet the MPs argue the entire model is based on wild assumptions.
“Most roads in Uganda are not marked, lack traffic lights, and do not support this kind of enforcement,” the report reads.
“The idea that motorists will always commit offences to sustain the revenue stream is absurd and exploitative.”
They further noted that the fallback plan for revenue shortfalls—should fines not meet expectations—is nonexistent, leaving Ugandans exposed to punitive enforcement simply to fulfil a dubious private contract.
The implementation of the scheme has raised public uproar given its controversial nature with motorists being taken back by as much as Shs2m over the course of driving in a day.
The dubious nature of the scheme is further shoved in the face of motorists who find themselves at traffic intersections with automated and manual functionality overlapping.
“I received a ticket in a funny way," said one motorist. "The lights were red but the traffic officer was calling the cars in that same direction. Few hours later, I received a ticket on my mail. How do I get justice? In fact the traffic officer was telling us to drive quickly.”
The dilemma is that to ignore the traffic officer in such a case is itself an offence and would incur a huge fine.
Damn if you do, damn if you don't.
No Competitive Bidding, No Oversight
The Russian company was single-sourced, bypassing the competitive bidding required under Uganda’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act.
Although Security Minister Jim Muhwezi claimed other bidders existed, the committee found no evidence of a competitive process.
In another legal breach, the firm failed to register as a foreign company in Uganda until March 21, 2023—nearly two years after the contract was signed.
The report describes this late registration as “an afterthought” and a violation of the Companies Act, 2012, which requires foreign firms to register within 30 days of establishing business in Uganda.
Joint Stock Company Global Security is privately owned by four individuals with no known links to any Russian state institutions: Ivan Shkarban, Alexey Kagarlytsky, Maxim Muravyev, and Oleg Pichugin.
Despite the sensitive nature of national security and surveillance infrastructure, the firm’s private status raises questions about government oversight and accountability.
The MPs caution that continuing to implement the EPS under such a flawed framework will only worsen public anger and place the state in legal jeopardy.
The minority recommended Parliament immediately halt the ITMS rollout, terminate the contract, and initiate fresh procurement involving competent, vetted firms.
It also urges a full value-for-money audit and an investigation into how the project was approved without stakeholder consultation.
“This arrangement is a scam to waste and misuse public resources. Government must save Ugandans the additional burden of being cheated in broad daylight,” the report concludes.
As protests continue against the EPS fines, this minority report offers damning validation to public fears—that the system is less about road safety and more about monetising enforcement to benefit a foreign, financially troubled firm.