Vehicle Hire Rate Irks PAC

Dec 19, 2001

PARLIAMENT Public Accounts Committee has summoned the Health Service Commission to defend a case in which the commission hired a vehicle for a year at inflated rates.

By Vision Reporter PARLIAMENT Public Accounts Committee has summoned the Health Service Commission to defend a case in which the commission hired a vehicle for a year at inflated rates. The vehicle was meant for the city and upcountry official duties of the commission’s deputy chairperson, who did not have an official car. It was hired at sh150,000 per day, sh42,000 higher than the official rate of sh108,000. The committee headed by Jack Sabiiti (Rukiga), also found that the commission had not got authority from the Ministry of Finance to hire the vehicle. The Senior Commission Accountant, J C Ssekatawa, said they had sought permission from the Chief Mechanical Engineer, who informally advised them on the threshold beyond which the rates should not exceed. “When we went to the Chief Mechanical Engineer to give us the rates, he said, if we did not exceed sh150,000 per day, it would be ok. He did not write down anywhere,” Ssekatawa explained. “But you were hiring expensively. In this letter you are requesting Finance for money to buy a vehicle because hiring is expensive. They are in turn querying why you hired a vehicle without permission, moreover at an inflated price,” Sabiiti said. The MPs insisted that the accountant pays up, if he fails to produce the formal documents warranting the excess. “On Friday, come with authority from the ministry that they allowed you to exceed the official rates. “Come with the documents to answer these queries or else we hand you to the authorities,” Sabiiti warned. Ends

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