Parliament has recommended that the driving permit issuing firm, Face Technologies, be awarded a five-year contract extension to allow for the gradual takeover by government.
The recommendation followed the presentation of a motion by Ajuri County MP, Hon. Denis Hamson Obua, on Tuesday, 10 September 2019 in which he sought for a transition period from the private firm to government. The sitting of Parliament was chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah.
“We would like to urge Government through the Ministry of Works that at the expiration of the existing contract, consider entering into a transitional management contract with M/S Face Technologies (PTY) Ltd to enable smooth training and prepare Ugandans to take over the facility,” Obua said.
Obua added that government through the Ministry of Works and Face
Technologies need to open more branches in 14 others regions of Uganda for ease of accessibility during the renewal of driving licenses during that period.
“Face Technologies is one of the most efficient public service providers unlike many other service providers [we have],” he added.
Obua noted that at the expiry of the contract, the training of Ugandans would not have been concluded.
“The current staff have only been trained on the first and second level of system maintenance procedures,” he added.
Hon. Odonga Otto (FDC, Aruu County) said the extension would give government time to familiarize with the database that is run by Face Technologies especially in issuing of driving permits.
“During this time, they shall train Uganda government and police so that they own the production of driving permits. They need training and management rights so that they can continue running the company,” he said.
He added that when the Ministry of Works takes over, the cost of a permit should be reduced to make it more affordable.
The Minister of State for Transport, Hon. Aggrey Bagiire, said government had taken steps to ensure the smooth transition from Face Technologies.
“We have been handling this matter in the ministry and in the interest of Ugandans. We have been taking steps; for example, the facility being rented in Kyambogo is very expensive. We shall move it to a government property as we work on acquiring the rights for the software,” he said.
According to the motion, the Ministry of Works and Transport and Face Technologies have decided that the facility be moved from the currently rented facility at Kyambogo to Government land at Uganda Railways main station building.
Face Technologies has been operating on a self-financing, build, operate and transfer basis since it entered into agreement with government and is supposed to handover at the expiry of the contract in May 2020.