Govt moves to curb parastatal vehicles abuse

The Department of Statutory Corporations has directed parastatals to enforce new motor vehicle registration procedures to ensure proper record-keeping and check against abuse or theft of vehicles.

In a memo dated September 5 2022 signed by the Comptroller of Statutory Corporations Peter Simbani, the arrangement will see parastatal vehicles first being registered by the Plant and Vehicle Hire and Engineering Services (PVHES) then the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) before parastatals apply to government for the assignment of the statutory corporation (SC) prefix number plate.

The memo further says government has noted with concern the preference by some parastatals which are using private registration numbers on pool and personal to holder motor vehicles instead of the assigned SC prefix number.

Reads the memo in part: “This has encouraged the proliferation of abuse of the motor vehicles across the sectors resulting in loss of government resources through maintenance and replacement of the fleet.

“I, therefore, would like request all parastatals to ensure their whole fleet [both pool and personal to holder motor vehicles] has the SC number plates at all times for identification by the authorities and the public.”

In an interview yesterday, Simbani said the move is also one way of trying to manage government assets in the form of vehicles that are in parastatals.

He observed that some of the parastatal vehicles have been missing, but could not give the exact figure and value of the suspected missing vehicles.

Said Simbani: “But I know that there are vehicles that have been changing hands without proper records. So we want to check that kind of abuse that was there in the parastatals.”

He said before the new registration arrangement which has already commenced, individual parastatals were just registering vehicles at DRTSS without involving his office or PVHES.

“But now we want each and every vehicle that is in their [parastatals] custody should be registered with us, so four offices will have records of that particular vehicle. And we want each and every vehicle to have SC number plate and there will be no exceptions that this is chief executive officer’s vehicle, no.”

Commenting on the matter, governance and social commentator Humphrey Mvula commended government for approving the new vehicle registration arrangement, saying it will help to track government vehicles.

He, however, suggested that government should also conduct an audit to find out how many vehicles parastatals have in the country.

“I think the audit will help to establish how many vehicles have gone missing,” said Mvula.