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Fresh fight rocks driving permit contract
Boda boda cyclists ride out of the Ministry of Works permit office in Kampala, that is manned by Face Technologies, in 2017. There are infights over a multi-billion shilling contract to issue driving permits . FILE PHOTO
A high-stakes fight is raging over a multi-billion shilling contract to issue driving permits to motorists.
Since 2003, the permits have been produced in Kampala by Face Technologies, a South African company, that was contracted to set up a computerised system, run it, then hand it over to government.
In August Daily Monitor, broke the news that government would take over the issuance of the permits in May 2020 under the Ministry of Works and Transport, as part of plans to centralise and improve the regulation and registration of motor vehicles and drivers.
However, following concerns about government’s readiness to take over the service, Parliament on September 10, passed a motion directing the Works ministry to extend Face Technologies’s contract for five years to allow for a seamless transfer.
MPs directed that the additional time would be used to also train more Ugandans to run the system and advised the Works ministry and Face Technologies to open at least 14 new branches across the country.
MPs also resolved “that the minister of Works and Transport reports to Parliament on the progress of the implementation of these resolutions by the end of November 2019”.
In internal briefing documents shared with MPs that Daily Monitor saw, top management at the Works ministry had noted that no money had been set aside in the current budget to pay Face Technologies for the software and database, and had warned of a crisis if the contract expired without a transition plan.
The parliamentary resolution, however, has now sparked furious lobbying within the Attorney General’s chambers by officials seeking to have it endorsed, and others seeking to have the contract issued to a new company, the Uganda Security Printing Company (USPC).
Officials lobbying on behalf of USPC, a joint-venture between German firm Veridos and the Entebbe-based Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation, say a security printing contract signed in 2018 entitles them to the driving permit contract as soon as the current one expires.
On the other hand, officials at the Works ministry say they are open to contracting Veridos to supply them with the blank cards on which the driving permits are printed, but do not wish to breach their contract with Face Technologies, defy Parliament, or build a new driving permit system from scratch without a database of existing drivers.
On September 16, the State Minister for Transport, Mr Aggrey Henry Bagiire, wrote to the Attorney General (AG) seeking legal guidance on how to proceed in light of the parliamentary resolution.
His senior minister Monica Ntege Azuba confirmed to this newspaper that they are waiting for the guidance from the AG on the next step.
Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana said the AG’s chambers is considering the matter but is yet to conclude on the matter.
However, documents seen by this newspaper show that on September 18, an official in the office of the Solicitor General noted to the AG’s chamber that the parliamentary resolution was not binding on the ministry or government.
Officials familiar with the matter now say uncertainty has sparked fierce lobbying, including name dropping, with references made to State House connections.
