Computerised permits are just cards!

Dec 03, 2007

EDITOR—I wish to assure Ugandans that the computerised driving permits are no better than the ones we had before.

EDITOR—I wish to assure Ugandans that the computerised driving permits are no better than the ones we had before.

First, when we are to renew the ‘computerised driving permits’ (which in reality are laminated identity cards) you have to pay not less than sh50,000 to the people who change information in a data base then the usual sh39,000 to URA.

For the driving permits that are not ‘computerised’ one pays only sh39,000 to URA. The issue here is not the cost alone but the reality that even this ‘computerised permit’ makes forgery even easier and more rampant due to its expense.

Why? If a police officer wants to verify your document then he has to take the card to the ‘computer experts’ or call them to inform him whether the card is genuine or not. What is the difference with the ordinary non-computerised driving permit?

Yet for that ordinary permit, you can tell whether the embossed seal stamp is valid or not. Furthermore, the photograph on the ‘computerised’ permits are not any close to being clear which makes the ordinary permits much better.

Another point is that we have to pay all that money for a card that will only be thrown a way after expiry and then wait a month for another one to be issued! If these cards were electronic cards like the ATM cards whereby a traffic officer has a card reader that shows him all the data about the driver when he puts the computer card in it, then it would be the best and would not be necessary to show the expiry on the card since he will know by just fixing the card in the card reader whether it is valid or expired and all other details. In that way, we will not need to be issued with new cards every time we renew the permits.

And only the data base will be changed and it will reflect on the officer’s machine as modified.

That will be something we call computerised driving permits. Just take a look at ATM cards. They don’t even cost more than sh50,000. We do not need to get new ATMs whenever we make a transaction. So, wake up and question the notion that the cards are computerised.

Just imagine a passport costs roughly sh50,000 and expires after 10 years compared to a piece of laminated identity card costing roughly sh120,000 expiring in just three years or one year.

I appeal to the members of parliament to look into this matter immediately. We are being cheated.

John Kolker
koller2000ug@yahoo.com

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