The electoral agency is among the State entities with the highest number of grounded vehicles, highlighting the extent to which government cars continue to rot in parking lots.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has 86 stalled motor vehicles, three motor boats and a forklift, all wasting away in parking bays.
The planning department, which is domiciled at Treasury, and should be guiding the government on prudent use of resources, had 60 motor vehicles out of which 23 or 38 percent were grounded.
Five are also decaying at Culture and Heritage while two are rotting away at the Interior ministry.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has raised the red flag on the management of grounded motor vehicles, noting details of specific defects were not provided for audit.
“In the absence of proper records with details of the grounded vehicles, it was not possible to confirm effective management of the grounded vehicles, which may continue to deteriorate resulting in loss of any salvage value which would have been realised through disposal of the motor vehicles,” Ms Gathungu said.
She said a review of ownership and valuation of motor vehicles at the IEBC revealed the commission had 256 motor vehicles, three motor boats and two folk lifts.
“However, examination of the motor vehicles status report as at June 30, 2021, revealed that…86 motor vehicles, three motor boats and one folk lift were grounded with some being unserviceable and having been idle for over three years,” Ms Gathungu said.
At Planning, Ms Gathungu said the motor vehicle register provided for audit missed crucial information about the grounded vehicles.
“In addition, the details of the specific defects and duration of the defects, logbooks and the work tickets for these grounded vehicles were not provided for audit verification,” she said in a report covering the 2020/21 financial year.
Five vehicles, including two VW Passat and two Peugeot 504 and 406 saloon cars belonging to Culture and Heritage are grounded at CMC, NSSF and Urysia garages.
The government in 2013 shifted to leased vehicles, especially for the police in a move aimed at cutting costs. This helps to avoid the upfront huge capital incurred if they opted to buy the vehicles.
Ms Gathungu said failure by the State Department for Planning to provide crucial details on the grounded motor vehicles is contrary to regulations governing the use of government transport.
