The inspector General of the South Sudan National Police Service on Wednesday disclosed plans to crack down on vehicles without number plates, and purposely obscured registration plates, and illegal number plates.

Gen. Majak Akech Malok while addressing the press on Wednesday said traffic accidents are on the rise and vehicles without number plates and those with covered numbers make it hard for the police to identify offenders.

Addressing journalists in a press conference in the capital Juba, Majak Akech Malok who spoke on behalf of the directorate of traffic police said they (police) have discovered that most car owners and motorists have decided to cover their number plates making it hard for traffic police to identify offenders.

He also said that some vehicles have only one registration plate and that some unscrupulous drivers use the number plates of grounded vehicles which is illegal.

“We have been getting challenges in the traffic police in Juba in particular. Some incidents are happening actually at a time when people are covering the number plates of their cars and they are not apprehended” he said. “Some drivers are even using plate numbers of cars that are already grounded at home and do not correspond with the logbook.”

Gen. Akech said that the drivers of cars that have unclear number plates can cause an accident and flee and evade justice.

“People are being knocked and the police are blamed for not apprehending the culprits,” he said.

The police chief appealed to motorists to abide by the law.