Zambia announces tough measures against misuse of government vehicles

LUSAKA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Friday announced tough measures aimed at curbing misuse of government vehicles in order to cut expenditure.

Felix Mutati, Minister of Works and Supply, said the measures include conducting regular road patrols on weekends, public holidays and after working hours to prevent abuse of government vehicles.

Other measures include fining public service workers found abusing government vehicles with hefty fines.

"Reports of misuse of government vehicles have led to high expenditure on fuel, service and repairs," he said in a statement issued by the ministry.

All government utility vehicles were supposed to be used for providing services to the public, he added.

According to him, for the government to effectively serve the people, it relies on its fleet of vehicles for an efficient transport system that should be operated in a cost-effective manner.

He urged members of the general public to report to his ministry or other authorities on public workers seen misusing government transport.

Stakeholders have expressed concern over increased misuse of government workers by public servants, with pictures of vehicles used for personal errands circulated on social media. Enditem