COPPERBELT TOPS GRZ VEHICLE ABUSE
…as DC vehicle is impounded
CIVIL servants on the Copperbelt Province are the worst abusers of government vehicles with no regard for regulations which they flout with impunity, chief controller of government transport Ernest Kunda said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Kitwe district commissioner Taphen Mulonga had a night to forget on Thursday when the government transport control unit pounced on him around 23:00 and impounded the vehicle he was driving in the night without any documentation to justify his action.
Speaking after the unit impounded more than 15 vehicles within three hours in Ndola yesterday, Mr. Kunda said from the unit’s first operation in the province, it was clear that the Copperbet was leading in noncompliance compared to other areas which had already been visited. He warned that officers found wanting would not be treated with kid gloves because they were unnecessarily straining the treasury through unnecessary vehicle maintenance expenses.
He said the levels of noncompliance in the province were unacceptably high as most of the vehicles were driven without any documents and that the majority of the fleet was being used without passes despite Friday being a holiday.
"In less than four hours that we have started our operation here in Ndola, it is now clear that the Copperbelt Province is leading in terms of non-compliance over the usage of government vehicles as most of the vehicles are being driven without any documents or justification for their usage during the holiday.
"For all the government vehicles we have dealt with today, none is complying and for vehicles from the Ndola City Council, the situation is even worse because we have impounded four so far. This is a timely warning to councils across the country that they need to put their houses in order because we will not tolerate this abuse of government vehicles anymore as we are determined to put a stop to it and bring sanity in government," Mr. Kunda said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mulonga was the first victim on Thursday night as he was found driving a government vehicle around 23:00 and his plea that he be released because he was on government assignment in Kitwe fell on deaf ears as he had no documents to show for his claims.
"Please, I am asking for forgiveness. I was not doing my personal programme but a government assignment,” Mr Mulonga pleaded but the