A total of about eight billion shillings has been spent on buying 111 Mitsubishi double cabin vehicles for Local Council V chairpersons for all districts in the country.
According to the Ministry of Local Government, the heavy duty vehicles are built for tropical terrain will be used for carrying out supervision and monitoring of government programmes at district level.
“We recognized that in order to have a functioning local government, we had to do two things; provide the leaders with knowledge and skills, and also provide necessary equipment for them,” a statement signed by local government minister Adolf Mwesige, states in part.
At the handover function held at Mandela National Stadium, Prime Minister Rt Hon Ruhakana Rugunda, who was also the chief guest, warned district chairpersons to desist from misusing the vehicles.
“The vehicles are for the office of the chairperson, they should not be used to serve purposes outside of what we expect them to,” the Premier said.
He also asked the handlers of the vehicles to ensure proper maintenance and utilisation.
“It is sometimes disappointing to find government vehicles parked at district headquarters because they are faulty, most cases these faults are very easy to fix,” Premier Rugunda said.
He also directed the Ministry of Finance to work together with their local government counterparts and procure the same vehicles for districts that missed this time round, and other officers like Town Clerks, Chief Executive Officers and Mayors.
The Premier also said that the government is going to give motorcycles to leaders at sub county level.
