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| Toyota Land Cruiser VX V8 (CC 4500) |
They will have to climb down and use 2000cc vehicles, down from 3000cc, as
the State seeks to cut costs.
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday
outlined the new measures the government intends to take to cut costs, key
among them a move to stop buying big cars that are hard to maintain and resort
to cheaper models for top officers.
National leaders are to be limited in
the use of vehicles during their tours of the regions and the government will
henceforth maintain a fleet of vehicles to be used during such visits.
Tabling
his Budget in the Parliament, Mr Pinda said the government would buy and
distribute cars according to engine capacity.
But in a quick rejoinder, Leader
of the Official Opposition Freeman Mbowe said the problem was not so much the
capacity of the vehicles but the fact that
no one was closely monitoring how they were used.
All along, he added, the PM has had the
authority to influence the way vehicles are used but he had failed to do so.
Whereas Mr Pinda had in the past rejected an expensive vehicle, Mr Mbowe said,
he did nothing to change the government policy on the purchase of such
vehicles.
The ministry responsible and Tanzania
Electrical, Mechanical and Services Agency (Temesa) were accused of having
failed to effectively monitor the management of public vehicles, so much so
that money put into servicing and fueling government vehicles had risen
significantly each year.
Mr Mbowe noted that the Prime Minister’s
office would need 660.6m/- for fuel and service of vehicles in the next
financial year. “We thank the Prime Minister for the promise he has made today,”
he added. “We are waiting to see if it will be implemented.”
According to Mr Pinda, the move will go
alongside strict measures against public servants found to have embezzled
funds.
He added: “Such public servants will be investigated and once the allegations
are proved, they will be sacked and charged before courts of law. Let me
reiterate that such people will not be shifted from one area to another.”
Leaders, top executives, directors of
public institutions and councillors will be required to keep an eye on how
public resources are used.
Executive directors and local government executives
will also be required to post on notice boards all information on the amount of
money received each month and how it has been used.
The directives concerning the purchase
and use of government vehicles are to be issued officially soon. “This will
help us more in cutting down the costs associated with fuel and service of the
so-called expensive cars,” Mr Pinda said.
During an interview with a local TV
station in May this year, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office
responsible for Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr William
Lukuvi, said the prime minister had stopped issuing permits for buying
government vehicles. Some directors in his office are reportedly using Toyota
RAV4 cars.
Should any pressing need to buy such
cars arise, the prime minister will allow Land Cruiser VX and V8 hard tops and
double cabins to be bought—but not at a cost of more than Sh200 million apiece.
In 2009, the PM promised to cut down on expensive cars.
He said the cash saved
would be spent on tractors to boost the agriculture sector.
In April this year, the Chairman of the
Public Accounts Committee, Mr John Cheyo, submitted a report to Parliament that
revealed that the government, owned a fleet of cars worth Sh5 trillion as of
June 30, 2010—which is almost 40 per cent of the 2011/12 national Budget.
A V8 reportedly costs more than 200m/-,
which can finance the tuition fees of 50 students at university or the
construction of 10 classrooms.
Source: The Citizen, www.thecitizen.co.tz , reported by Alex Bitekeye,
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