Government is set to roll out a fully digital motor vehicle registration system that will reduce clearance time from customs to registration to as little as one hour, officials have said.
Speaking to Nile Post, Winstone Katushabe, Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety at the Ministry of Works and Transport, said the reforms are designed to eliminate delays, corruption, and inefficiencies in the current system.
“We are transitioning from manual processes to digital registration,” Katushabe said, noting that the new system will go beyond number plates to include integrated tracking and verification technologies.
He said the Ministry is working closely with the Uganda Revenue Authority, which is upgrading its own systems, to ensure seamless coordination and improved accountability across the vehicle import chain.
“Our commitment is to ensure that from the time a vehicle exits customs to registration, it should take about one hour. At renewal now you can even get out in 30 minutes,” he said.
Katushabe acknowledged that persistent delays in the system are largely driven by unregulated clearing agents, whom he accused of slowing down processes and frustrating clients.
“We are convening a meeting to deal with clearing agents because they tend to delay clients, and then the problem comes to government. We have evidence on this,” he said.
He said government is considering stricter regulation and formal registration of clearing agents to curb malpractice and improve service delivery.
The commissioner also revealed that authorities are deploying digital tracking systems to monitor vehicle movement from entry points such as Mombasa through to final registration in Uganda.
“We have a dashboard that tracks when you import your vehicle and up to the time you exit the border,” he said.
Katushabe warned that the system will also be used to close gaps that enable tax evasion and under-declaration of vehicle values, which he said has significantly reduced government revenue.
“A vehicle that is supposed to pay shs300 million ends up paying shs30 million. We have evidence,” he said.
As part of the reforms, the Ministry plans to link vehicle registration to the national identification system to strengthen traceability and reduce fraud.
“National ID will be the unique identifier. If you don’t pay taxes, we shall know,” he said.
He further cautioned against reliance on brokers in vehicle transactions, saying some have exploited gaps in the system to transfer ownership without consent.
“You don’t need brokers. You can transfer your vehicle yourself in a short time with your National ID,” Katushabe said.
He added that the reforms are intended to boost non-tax revenue collection while improving efficiency and public service delivery.
“We want to make sure the system responds to customer needs… and that these problems you see now will be history,” he said.