Works and transport minister Veikko Nekundi says Namibia will soon introduce new vehicle number plates with enhanced security features to curb fraud, vehicle theft and the manipulation of registration details.
Nekundi made the announcement in the National Assembly on Thursday while responding to Popular Democratic Movement MP Winnie Moongo, who raised concerns about the traceability and manipulation of number plates.
He says the ministry has activated Part Five of the regulations governing the registration of number plate manufacturers, builders and importers under the Road Traffic and Transport Regulations.
The provision had been inactive due to technical challenges, which Nekundi says have now been resolved.
“The regulation was inactive for some time due to technical challenges that existed before. However, these challenges have been addressed,” he says.
Nekundi says consultations with manufacturers began last month, while the ministry teams are currently engaging stakeholders in the regions.
Once consultations are done, registration of number plate manufacturers will become mandatory.
“All the number plates are going to change very soon,” he says, adding that private plates, which he describes as easily manipulated and frequently stolen by car thieves, would also be replaced.
He says taxis, long-distance and other public transport vehicles would receive blue number plates instead of the current yellow plates.
The new plates will include security features such as barcodes that can be scanned by road traffic cameras to identify traffic infringements and tracing vehicles.
Nekundi says the system would identify the manufacturer and registered owner of each number plate, helping authorities detect counterfeit plates and identify manufacturers linked to criminal activity.
He adds that access to the system would be restricted to authorised home affairs officials, while monitoring measures would be introduced to prevent tampering.
