November 6, 2024
Governors And CSs To Have Two Vehicles Only Says Treasury

Governors And CSs To Have Two Vehicles Only Says Treasury

Governors And CSs To Have Two Vehicles Only Says Treasury

Governors and Cabinet Secretaries will be issued with only two cars in new tough measures by the National Treasury to curb wastage.

Deputy governors and principal secretaries would be issued with one vehicle, the same for county executives and chief officers.

Parastatal chiefs and chief executive officers of constitutional commissions and independent officers would also be assigned a car each. The same would be for chairpersons of state corporations, even as other senior officers would be compelled to carpool.

“Senior cadre officials would facilitate from a pool of vehicles,” the new rules proposed by Treasury boss John Mbadi read.

This would be the case for county officers in the senior cadre.

The Treasury Cabinet Secretary says the proposed rules are aimed at ensuring government vehicles are used optimally.

If the proposal is approved, vehicles would be mainly assigned for security and operations.

“Commissioners of independent officers and members of parastatal boards are required to use private vehicles and seek reimbursement,” the proposed policy reads.

Various audits by the Office of Auditor General and budget reviews by the Controller of Budget have in the past highlighted the cost of travel in government.

Reports have shown a chunk of the money spent on domestic travel is attributed to officers moving around with a fleet of vehicles.

In the year to June 2023, the government spent about Sh15 billion on the cost of transport for civil servants and state officers.

The  Auditor General in an earlier report flagged wanton wastage of government vehicles assigned to various state departments.

She cited violations of the law and directives by the Treasury on their usage.

The 2022 audit has flagged cases of lost vehicles, vehicles lacking logbooks, and others registered in the name of contractors at several ministries.

Gathungu has also reported instances where vehicles were diverted to other agencies against the law.

Among those put on the spot included the departments of planning, education, health, infrastructure, public works, and water.

At the Planning Department, Gathungu queried why the management had left 23 vehicles grounded for so long, the same losing their salvage value.

There were cases where entities failed to provide work tickets to help track the usage of the cars.

It emerged that drivers at state agencies failed to disclose fuel, oil, and distance traveled in the respective vehicle logs.

Cases of vehicles going missing were also cited.

A Toyota Fortuner GK B193V which was bought at Sh8.36 million for a project went missing at the Education Ministry.

Management explained that the vehicle was stolen, within days after purchase, in a carjacking incident.

The Infrastructure department also lost a vehicle valued at Sh6.5 million in July 2020 which was yet to be recovered.

A consultant at the Kimira Oluch irrigation project in Homa Bay also did not hand over two vehicles of registration numbers KBS 681Z and KBS 682Z valued at Sh7.2 million.

Governors And CSs To Have Two Vehicles Only Says Treasury