Friday, March 29, 2024

Refrain from abusing government vehicles – Mutati

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Toyota Hilux Registration number GRZ 196 CA
Toyota Hilux Registration number GRZ 196 CA

Government says all public service employees should refrain from abusing government vehicles to ensure efficient transport system is operated in a cost effective manner.

This follows reports of misuse of Government vehicles which has been noted to be leading to the high expenditure on fuel, service and repairs.

Minister of Works and Supply Felix Mutati said failure to comply will attract some punitive action against those found wanting

Mr. Mutati disclosed that it is important to note that all utility Government fleet are supposed to be used to provide services related to Government operations.

He further urged the public to take keen interest in the matter by reporting any public officer seen misusing Government transport.

He also stated that among common trends of misuse of Government vehicles that have been recorded include the driving of vehicles without filling in a log book and with an unsigned Log Book and being on an unauthorized route.

“Other trends are driving a Government vehicle without a certificate of competence, without a weekend pass and for personal errands as well as parking at unauthorized places such as bars,” he said.

He stated that in this regard, government has come up with measures to deal with the same when found wanting like the payment of a fine ranging from K150.00 to K1000.00 among other measures.

“In order to enforce compliance the Ministry shall strengthen the implementation with measurers such as undertaking regular road patrols and spot checks by the Controller of Government Transport which will include the use of Breathalyzers to arrest the trend of driving under the influence of alcohol,” he said.

Mr. Mutati emphasized on the need for discipline amongst the public service employees on the utilization of Government vehicles meant for the purpose of delivering service to the citizens.

This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday by Ministry of Works and Supply Public Relations Officer Ndubi Mvula.

22 COMMENTS

  1. How are you.
    Do you know God? If yes how do you know him?
    Read some few note bellow!
    God created everything Genesis 1:1, and it was perfect (good)! Genesis 1:31. Then people sinned against God Genesis 3. After some years one man by the name of Abraham became Gods friend according to James 2:23 and God blessed him, his children and all his offspring’s who were told to do Gods will. Because to God if our Parents or ancestors sin then we are also sinners and we deserve punishment Exodus 20:5.

    • So since our fathers sinned and we have all sinned (obviously we have done something wrong before). God is annoyed and we deserve to be punished and the punishment is of death. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” but still God loves people (us) instead of killing us all he said let someone pay for them who was his son. Who was and still is righteous so that he exchange his righteousness for the sins of the world (us) as John 3:16 state “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

    • So now we have a role to play according to John that is to believe in the righteous son of God as the redeemer of our sins then we will escape the wrath of God. That is the only way!
      After we believe one day Jesus will come back and take those who believe to a place which will be perfect as that of the beginning John 14:3- so before he comes we need to read is word (the Bible) and learn how he wants us to live while waiting.

    • Do you believe Jesus Now? If so pray as follows.. “Dear God, I believe in your son that he died for my sins and all my inherited sins and I accept him as my savior. Amen”
      If you prayed that prayer please find a bible believing church and learn more about this Jesus. You can also

  2. Some of us have been singing the song of removing this system of Luxury SUV entitlement to senior govt officers- we know what we are talking about! A brand new 2017 Hilux from toyota Zambia costs USD 50,000 or more. It supposedly comes with warranty for the first so many thousand of kms, now the way GRZ guys use this cars in just 6 months they will have covered even 50,000kms so the warranty goes and then maintenance will have to come out of the pocket of the Govt, one vehicle with the cost of fuel can cost the govt too much money – a full tank for diesel is 80litresx K12/litre which is K960. It will need refueling maybe 3 times a week or more even. Plus monthly maintenance costs which can average K20,000 per month. So it total we are talking about a bill of K960x3times a week which is…

    • Ctn.. So IN total we are talking about a bill of K960x3times a week which is K2880x4 is K11,620 per month plus maintenance of K20,000 per month total bill on fuel and maintenace average- K31,620 x 12 months a year is K379,440 for just one Luxury SUV. Govt buys up to 100 to 500 per month of these cars for all the line ministries, govt depts and supporting insitutions such as ZRA, ERB, Napsa Ratsa etc etc now let’s be serious with life fellow Zambians do the maths? Are we getting any benefit from these luxury SUVs? The only people getting rich are the car manufacturers! They even sell you the defective cars that have been recalled from the developed countries. We in Zambia have never even had a car recall from Toyota -is it we are more special than South Africa, Australia, UK, USA where…

  3. Ctn… We in Zambia have never even had a car recall from Toyota -is it we are more special than South Africa, Australia, UK, USA where car recalls are common???? No donor will come and say cut down on the spending of Luxury SUVS as they provide no economic benefit! These so called donors are evil sadistic animals and just want to see us fail. We have to be brave and sacrifice for the betterment of future generations. No donot told late revolutionary Thomas Sankara to stop his ministers from using Benz cars but he took it up himself and saved his country a lot of money which was used on education, health etc! Even in developed nations MPs used public transport, we can only trully develop when we see our own leaders come down to the level of the common people. This cuts across party lines…

  4. Fire a few officials for GRZ vehicles misuse.

    Also notice how defective gov vehicles are never stopped at traffic check points.

  5. The best solution is to have these vehicles be used only during working hours. GRZ cars should be parked at GRZ offices and not GRZ officers residence. Why do they go with these cars at home? in Botswana even ministers and the president to go with GVT vehicles home nor use them for personal private matters. We can save a lot when we do that.

  6. This is what Chief Jona Mutaware was advising Government & Party workers when he uttered those now infamous words- ‘Ubomba Mwibala”
    Not only that, he also encouraged his Ministers/ Officials to keep drawing a salary illegally when Parliament was dissolved, & now that the Con- Court has directed the money gets reimbursed, Chief Mutaware has been silent, obviously encouraging his Cadres to hold on to the Cash.
    WHAT DOES ONE EXPECT??
    Cry Zambia.

  7. I wonder if the GRZ employees will heed this call to stop abusing govt. vehicles. Its a huge task to achieve. This whole thing of abuse of GRZ vehicles has been going since the time of KK regime and I wonder if the workers concerned are going to heed the Minister’s warning. GRZ vehicles are seen all over engaged in different activities and drinking places etc. mention them the list is endless. What about those which belong to services and parastatals how are they going to monitored? We will wait and see and how this will be implemented otherwise its as good as trying to grow hair on an egg. The only is to change the mind set of civil servants from top to the lowest man.

  8. I am a Tax payer whose money funds loans to mother Zambia. Pictures like the one above are truly disheartening to all Tax-payers in Countries that give aid to Zambia.

    The World is watching. This is what happens when we normalise abuse of public property. When a leader says “Ubomba mwibala alya mwibala, cikulu talile ne mbuto.” that leader is normalising abuse of public property.

  9. Meanwhile PF cadres are driving govt cars with privste plates….what law are you going to use to stop and use of Breathalyzer on somebody?

  10. Yes, there is a big problem here, hon minister. It calls for all hands on deck. During ZCCM days, we used to conduct spot checks on all mine vehicles that drove out side operational areas. Spot checkers were strategically positioned and were expected to capture the direction the vehicle was going and coming from, including time, number of passengers or what cargo it was carrying. The data so captured was later analysed and compared with the information on the vehicle log sheet. Any serious disparities or unauthorized use was punishable.

  11. @governor: You are 100% right those 3 people rejecting your statement are the very people doing wrong things. The devil has blinded their ayes and to them every thing is normal. wait and see where we are going.

  12. For once, someone is talking sense. We see these grz vehicles night time, weekends in all sorts of okward places. Some are parked at bars, churches, shopping malls, in the farms during weekends, and you wonder whether anyone anywhere is taking responsibility? It’s a great shame!

  13. This is good move Ba Felix. if we heed to that call, then we will serve a lot. Like someone has mentioned, here in Botswana, when going for work and knocking off you find your on way. When on duty, yes you use government vehicle. It does not matter who you are in the ranks. The only time you see the govt vehicle at your house when picking you for a trip or dropping you.

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