District chairpersons demand punitive action against misuse of vehicles

Lwengo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The LC V district chairpersons for Lwengo and Sembabule are demanding punitive action against the chronic misuse of government fleets in local governments.

They note that the presence of many non-functional government vehicles currently grounded in their districts is frustrating the movements of the newly elected leaders.

The leaders indicate that mismanagement of government vehicles is a challenge that needs to be addressed by introducing very tough penalties to whoever uses them recklessly.

In Lwengo, the LC V chairperson Ibrahim Al-Malik Kitatta says that many of the vehicles that were procured to support the operations of the district in the last term of office are currently grounded after they developed mechanical breakdowns.

Some of the vehicles that broke down include the official car of the district chairperson, vice-chairperson, the district council speaker and district engineer among others.

Kitatta blames the mechanical breakdown of the vehicles on deliberate poor handling and failure to service them by the leaders and officers they are allocated to. He adds that leaders who mismanage the fleet should be fined.

Kitatta wants the Ministry of Local Government to conduct periodic assessment of all government fleets to ensure that they are properly managed.

He indicates that they have also established that despite allocating money for maintaining and servicing the assets, local governments are not putting the funds to proper use.

Patrick Nkalubo, the LC V chairperson Ssembabule says that there are currently no vehicles to support the movement of many departmental heads after the vehicles were mismanaged in the previous term. Nkalubo says if the government does not give new vehicles to support their movement, they will likely fail to monitor public projects in the area.

The 2020 report by the Auditor General also raises serious concerns on the underlying weaknesses in the management of government fleets, despite spending sums of funds on vehicle maintenance.

It highlights the absence of fleet management policy and guidelines, as one of the contributors to the irresponsible handling of the vehicles.

Raphael Magyezi, the Minister of Local Government says that besides facing the Parliamentary Local Government’s Public Accounts Committee whose recommendation they will act upon, the ministry will also review the report on a case by case basis to find a way forward.

In 2016, the government spent 14 Billion Shillings to procure 111 brand new Mitsubishi double cabin pickups for all district LC V chairpersons to enable them effectively monitor government programmes.

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