Vehicle maintenance and the process of disposing off of government vehicles

Vehicle maintenance and the process of disposing off of government vehicles

By Adellah Agaba

Uganda Debt Network is a policy advocacy organization working to promote and advocate for poor and marginalized people to participate in influencing poverty-focused policies, demand for their rights and monitor service delivery to ensure prudent, accountable and transparent resource generation and utilization. UDN is at the forefront of monitoring the utilization of government resources to the benefit of people of Uganda.

The government policy instrument on vehicles provides for the standardization of vehicles of government officials. However, this policy instrument continues to suffer abuse by the same officials who are obligated to keep government property in good condition. The fuel guzzling, costly vehicles end up making their maintenance costly to the disadvantage of tax payers in the country who still receive poor service delivery at the end of the day.

With the ever-increasing fleet of government vehicles, maintenance costs equally escalate in terms of garage costs, fuel, oils and lubricants. This then bears an implication on Government expenditure and consequently hikes our already huge domestic debt. When all is said and done, Uganda finds herself locked in this vicious cycle of debt and debt repayment. Fiscal indiscipline is one of the main causes of debt arrears as indicated in the Auditor General’s Report of 2010.

We acknowledge Government’s efforts to ensure that the country’s debt is sustainable. However, we also note that though the current Debt Strategy stipulates purposes for which the country should borrow, it does not provide for limits on the amount that the country should borrow. This puts the country in a precarious situation with the exaggerated expenditure that the government exhibits, which includes maintenance of government vehicles. 

Government’s unbalanced expenditure has led to increased instances of hefty allocations to public administration in the annual budgets and more stringent allocations to service delivery say in hospitals, where the common man benefits and this questions government capacity in setting its priorities. As per the Public Service Standing Orders, in addition to the maintenance of inventories for vehicles, plant and other equipment; log books or operating records must be maintained by recording a vehicle’s history, performance, servicing, overheads, and repairs in sufficient details for periodic assessments to be made of its performance, compared to its cost of upkeep. A public officer shall be held financially responsible for losses incurred on Government property which are due to his or her neglect or fault. 

Where a Responsible Officer considers that inventories, vehicles, plant, equipment etc, have reached the end of their useful life and are beyond economical repair; or are unserviceable; or have become redundant through obsolescence, he or she shall draw a list of the items giving details of the articles, and where appropriate, their age and approximate value. This list shall be submitted to the Accounting Officer requesting for appointment of a Board of Survey to inspect the items and make recommendations as to their condemnation and disposal. Hence, disposal of Government assets and property shall be in accordance with the law on Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets.

There is need for the reduction on the numbers of government vehicles so as to reduce on the cost of public administration. Government officials should adhere to the Public Service Standing Orders on the use and care of government vehicles and we encourage all ministries to monitor their respective vehicles as they carry out official work to avoid embarrassments that could injure their reputation in the public eye.

The main purpose of this campaign is to ensure the government expenditure is in line with its priorities of improving service delivery and the officials who hold government offices are accountable to the people they represent at all levels. A good public official is one who leads with integrity, transparency and is accountable to the citizens at all times. Let’s lead by example by being law abiding and protect government assets at all times.

 The writer works with Uganda Debt Network.