Activists lose court case to block digital number plates

In order to prevent the Attorney General from deploying the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) or any other similar system, the activists under their Legal Brains Trust (LBT) Limited had sought the Court of Appeal's temporary injunction.

The judge ruled that because the activists had not shown that they would suffer harm if the digital system was adopted, he was unable to determine that the LBT would sustain irreparable harm.

Earlier, Justice Boniface Wamala of the High Court dismissed the case in February on the grounds that the campaigners had not provided enough proof of the necessity of preventing the government from placing car monitoring devices in people's vehicles.

He remarked that the respondent in the case, the Attorney General, had convincingly argued that the introduction of the surveillance devices was necessary to protect national security and reduce crime, both of which are under the purview of the government.

Since then, the Ugandan Parliament has approved the deployment of digital trackers as a requirement for cars and motorcycles. Face Technologies will combine its database of all licence holders with the databases of the police and the Uganda Revenue Authority to help identify defaulters.

The Government of Uganda, through the Ministries of Transport, and Security, has moved to implement and operationalise the ITMS.

The system requires the issuance of digital number plates that the government hopes will enable the tracking of vehicles and motorcycles as a means to combat crimes.