The Committee on the motor vehicle, plant, and equipment determination, assessment, and evaluation has presented its report to Kitui Governor Dr. Julius Malombe.
The chairman Stephen Wambua in the findings said there was a lot of mishandling of vehicles and plant machinery. According to the assumption of office of the Governor committee, the County Government of Kitui had a total of 313 vehicles, 233 motorcycles, and other plant machinery.
According to the committee report, 252 vehicles were the only ones found after site visits. There were cases of 14 vehicles captured twice in the assumption of office committee report.
“The committee also unearthed that there were 6 missing vehicles, and 365 motorcycles identified hence raising eyebrows. Only 132 vehicles have logbooks, 70 were found without the logbooks while 118 vehicles were registered as GK vehicles,” Wambua revealed in the report presented to the Governor.
The committee also found out that there are many cases of vehicles abandoned and some of them grounded as a result of taking too long without repair and maintenance. Motor vehicles worth Ksh. 105 million were found to be abandoned.
The chair of the committee said that the amount is huge and thus the current government should lay strategies to see how they can repair them.
“Some vehicles are even abandoned by the roadside, others at police stations, and after our analysis, we found that they need a repair cost of approximately Ksh. 7.42 million to be fully operational. I recommend having county towing vehicles so that when a vehicle breaks down can be towed to a specific government yard instead of being abandoned by the roadside,” the chairman stated.
The committee also noted that a common problem of the grounded vehicles was a result of nozzle injectors which is mostly a result of contaminated fuel.
Wambua recommended that the County Government should ensure that there is a recorded fuel history and use fuel from genuine petrol stations. They also recommended the use of electronic fuel cards and close supervision of the vehicles.
A bizarre incident was also witnessed where a vehicle KBU 648 T which has been grounded at Tanathi offices in Kitui since 2020 has been consuming fuel. Strangely, financial records indicated that the vehicle consumed both petrol and diesel thus raising speculations of money laundering by some of the county staff.
The committee recommended fuel statements be audited and surcharged the officers found culpable. Governor Malombe said that he would ensure that the report is implemented and due process followed before taking action against those who will be found guilty.
2 other reports presented to the Governor equally had damning findings. Missed the story? check it out below;
