Drone number plates fall off at times, Police clarifies on numberless drone vehicles

By Juliet Nalwooga
The Kampala Acting Traffic Director Lawrence Niwabiine has urged members of the public not to be quick to suspect numberless drone vehicles on the road as being involved in illegal activities.

Niwabiine, while addressing journalists at Naguru noted that most of the Toyota Hiace Drone vans are new in the city Centre with small number plates that often fall off as they speed off to car bonds.

“When drone vans are being imported, they come with very small number plates that always fall off on the way. That’s why some of them have no number plates though the media tends to blow it out of proportion,” Lawrence Niwabiine.

The explanation comes amid concerns from the public that people are being kidnapped by armed security personnel and sometimes plain clothed men in numberless drone vehicles then whisked off to unknown destinations, and are never presented before court for trial.

Niwabiine says it is illegal to drive numberless vehicles and such cases should be reported, but advises members of the public to ascertain facts before they instigate panic especially via social media.

He also noted that the speed at which these drones move should be checked before lives are lost in accidents.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna