Uganda’s digital number plate controversy raises a question bigger than the price of a metal plate. How much scrutiny should citizens surrender when government invokes national security? The answer cannot be everything. Parliament’s investigation into the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) is exposing a gap between what Ugandans may have understood they were buying and what the technology actually does. Motorists are paying about Shs 714,300 for a digital registration plate, up from Shs 137,000, roughly Shs 577,300 more. Committee chairperson Mwine Mpaka has offered an important clarification: the number plate itself does not track a vehicle. A separate GPS tracker installed alongside it does. That may sound technical. It is basically about accountability. When government compels citizens to buy technology linked to surveillance and law enforcement, they deserve to know precisely what they are paying for, what information it collects, who controls it and what public benefit justifies the cost. Former MP Abdul Katuntu put the issue plainly: “Can anyone convince an ordinary citizen why he is paying an extra Shs 577,300? Is it just the appearance of a number plate, or are there other advantages?” Government must answer that question. There is a legitimate case for modernizing Uganda’s security infrastructure. ITMS emerged partly from efforts to confront violent crime involving suspects escaping on motorcycles. Police say the system is working and have reported recovering 337 of 375 stolen vehicles and 174 motorcycles from 782 reported motorcycle theft cases. But Parliament must establish how many of those recoveries resulted specifically from ITMS trackers rather than CCTV cameras or conventional police work. Effectiveness must be measured, not merely asserted. The financial questions are equally serious. The contractor, Joint Stock Company Global Security, was expected to invest $257 million. Finance ministry figures presented to Parliament indicate that $115 million had been invested by July 2026, while Mpaka estimates the company could collect Shs 3.3 trillion from Ugandans over the 10-year contract. Questions have also arisen over the contractor’s experience and delays in delivering plates. Some motorists who expected plates within two weeks have reportedly waited up to a year. Citizens should not pay substantially more for a supposedly superior service only to receive a slower one. Then there is privacy. Technology that can locate a stolen vehicle can also reveal the movements of law-abiding citizens. Ugandans deserve to know who can access that location data, under what authority, for what purpose and with what safeguards against abuse. The solution is not to abandon technology. Uganda needs modern investigative tools. But technological ambition must come with democratic accountability. Parliament should demand a breakdown of the Shs 714,300 charge, an independent audit of ITMS performance and credible statistics showing recoveries directly attributable to the system. Government must also disclose the safeguards governing access to citizens’ location data. National security cannot become a substitute for evidence. Ugandans may reasonably be asked to pay for technology that protects them. But they are entitled to know what they are paying for, whether it works, who profits from it and who can use the information it generates. A tracker can reveal where a vehicle goes. Parliament must now track something equally important: every shilling spent, every promise made and every institution responsible for delivering it.The post Digital plates: MPs must uncover what Shs 714,300 actually buys! appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.