Staff Reporter
The Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, has defended the purchase of 30 Fortuner vehicles worth N$24 million, stating that government is inundated with an old fleet of vehicles, which are mostly parked in government garages as they have become too old and break down constantly.
Mutorwa said that around 2020, the President, through the cabinet, put a five-year moratorium on the purchase of vehicles. He added that, considering the state of the economy and the manner in which vehicles were being utilized, the decision was made not to purchase any new cars.
“We were in trouble; the economy was not performing, and there was Covid. Therefore, within the doctrine of doing more with less, the president through the cabinet decided that there would be no purchasing of vehicles for public office bearers. This does not only include politicians but judges and people like the ombudsman. So we have tried to live within the means. There was no ignoring the directives. The 4×4’s, for example, instead of being allocated to an individual public office bearer, were allocated to an institution for the use of the minister or deputy minister for official purposes,” Mutorwa said.
He added that the 4×4 vehicles were the most abused of the public vehicles. Mutorwa said that his ministry had to approach the Ministry of Finance to see if there were any funds to purchase vehicles despite the moratorium.
“Abuse or no abuse, if a vehicle is used after a certain time, a vehicle also has its own lifespan. We have seen that some of the vehicles spend more time in the garage than on the road. After having assessed all this in an objective manner and after interacting with the Ministry of Finance, the ministry allocated some money for the purchase of a pool of vehicles. There is a justification for us to replenish some of these old vehicles which are more in the garage than on the road,” Mutorwa said.
In the fiscal year spanning from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, the government allocated a budget of N$29.7 million for vehicles. Conversely, in the ongoing financial year, this figure has surged to N$180 million, signifying a substantial increase of N$150.3 million.
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