KIGALI - Registration for new electronic driving permits have began. The Legal Officer in the department of transport in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Dominique Rurangirwa, recently told The New Times that the process will commence with Kigali City and later proceed to the Southern Province.

"The process will be conducted from all police stations in Kigali City and people to register will first have to pay Frw50,000 to Rwanda Revenue Authority,” he said. 

The development comes after the Lower Chamber of Deputies passed the bill to issue new electronic driving licenses in July.

Members of the public have expressed worry about the cost of the new driving permit.

"I don’t think I will be able to afford the new permit,” one driver said.

Rurangirwa attributed the price of the new driving permit to the high cost of manufacturing them.

"The government wants to store the new electronic driving permit owner’s information in the country’s database for national security reasons and also to install in them sophisticated technology that is hard to duplicate,” he explained.

The Head of Traffic Police, Superintendent Robert Niyonshuti, in a telephone interview said that the new electronic driving license would be issued only to those who already have licenses.

"People from outside Kigali City who need driving permits are now issued with old ones or else they are advised to wait for the process of acquiring new ones to reach their area,” he said.

The process of registration will be carried out by the police and is expected to take one month in every province.

Rurangirwa said that within one year non-electronic driving permits will no longer be recognised.

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