KAMPALA, Uganda — A Russian company awarded a controversial deal to produce digital-surveilled number plates in Uganda is also registered to four Ugandan directors, according to documents from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB). This revelation, first reported by Daily Monitor, further deepens the mystery surrounding the firm, Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd.
The company is incorporated in the Russian Federation as Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd and also locally with the URSB as both a foreign and private limited company. URSB documents list Ivan Shkarban, 50, as a director and Dmitri Basangov as company secretary. In Uganda, Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd also trades as Virtus Global Security Company Ltd, its Ugandan subsidiary incorporated in December 2021.
Memorandum and Articles of Association for Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd, found within Virtus Global Security Company Ltd’s registration file, detail four Ugandan businesspeople as shareholders: Amon Hope Kenyonyi, 56, with 30 ordinary shares; Gordon Bagambe Hangamaisho, 43, also with 30 shares; and Brendan Tusiime and Rachel Natuha, each allotted 20 ordinary shares.
Officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport, assigned to the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) project with the company, confirmed that Virtus Global Security Company Ltd is the local trading arm of Joint Stock Company Global Security, but declined further comment. Pearl Ayesiga, the ITMS spokesperson, initially questioned Daily Monitor’s interest in the matter and later stated, “Now is not the right time to talk about the matter. We are trying to clarify it.”
The ITMS project, which includes the installation of digital-surveilled number plates, stems from President Museveni’s 2018 blueprint to combat high-profile crime, particularly assassinations. A search of company registration details indicates that the registrations of Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd and Virtus Global Security Company Ltd are intertwined, with Virtus Global Security Company Ltd incorporated on Dec. 21, 2021, and its documents amended through 2025.
A company resolution for Virtus Global Security Company Ltd dated Dec. 21, 2021, named Damir Makhutov as managing director. A Jan. 15 board resolution showed Makhutov as the operator of the company’s bank accounts at EcoBank and Stanbic Bank.
A Dec. 15, 2021, letter from Yunus Kakande, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, to the Inspector General of Police, introduced Virtus Global Security Company Ltd for ITMS implementation. “As you may be aware, on Friday, July 23, 2021, the government of Uganda represented by the Office of the President, and Ministry of Works on one hand; and M/s Joint Stock Company Global Security, on the other; entered into agreement to implement the ITMS as directed by His Excellency the President in 2018,” Kakande wrote.
He listed ITMS objectives as crime management through vehicle detection, tracking, identification and recognition, along with improved revenue collection by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) during vehicle registration. Kakande’s letter noted that Joint Stock Company Global Security was registering Virtus Global Security Company Ltd as a local subsidiary for the project, adding that the URSB required a recommendation letter from the Uganda Police Force for its registration to proceed.
On Feb. 8, 2025, Virtus Global Security Company Ltd amended its directors to include Damir Makhmutov and Ivan Shkarban. The roles of the Ugandan directors in documents filed in recent months remain undefined. However, an earlier Memorandum of Association filed on Dec. 21, 2021, listed Shkarban and Joint Stock Company Global Security (incorporated in Moscow) as its two share subscribers.
Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd/Virtus Global Security Company Ltd, in collaboration with the Works Ministry, faced significant public outcry last month over the controversial Automatic Express Penalty Scheme (AutoEPS). The new traffic enforcement system, designed to curb road indiscipline, drew widespread condemnation for what critics called unrealistic speed limits (lowered from 50 km/hr to 30 km/hr in urban areas), exorbitant fines and poor signage of surveillance installations.
The AutoEPS scheme was suspended until July 12 to allow for consultations. The deadline passed over the weekend with the Ministry of Works remaining silent on the matter. It had emerged that the company was reportedly relying on AutoEPS collections to finance other operations, including the digital number plates manufacturing scheme, which has faced significant delays and shortages, frustrating car dealers.
Joint Stock Company Global Security Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministries of Works and the Presidency in July 2021 to begin digital number plate manufacturing. The company initially attributed project delays to U.S./European Union sanctions against Russian companies following Moscow’s military occupation of Ukraine, although some insiders suspected financial difficulties.
Earlier this month, Justice Boniface Wamala of the High Court Civil Division ordered the government to table key documents, including due diligence reports and the MoU signed with Virtus Global Security Company Ltd/Joint Stock Company Global Security, related to the ITMS project within 60 days. This order came in a case filed by Legal Brains Trust. The government had previously cited confidentiality, arguing that disclosure would infringe on foreign investors’ privacy rights, but Justice Wamala dismissed this, finding no specific evidence to support the claim of state endangerment or violation of investor rights.
