1,200 vehicles leased to National Police Service to boost service delivery

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in one of the 1,200 vehicles leased for the National Police Service at Uhuru Park Thursday. The President launched the vehicles during a ceremony held at the park. [PHOTO: DPPS]

By CYRUS OMBATI

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Government has unveiled a new transport policy that will see all its departments lease vehicles instead of purchasing them.

This, according to President Uhuru Kenyatta, will ensure value for services provided.

He said the move would ensure better service delivery, creation of more jobs and maximum value for money.

“The rationale behind the leasing as an alternative to providing government transport services is that it enables us front-load access to many fully serviced motor vehicles,” he said.

The President spoke at Uhuru Park in Nairobi yesterday while launching 113 vehicles leased for the police service. They are part of a 1,200 fleet to be leased for use by security agencies.

COMING YEARS

Uhuru said in coming years, the arrangement would be replicated in other Government ministries and departments.

The vehicles will be shared between the regular and Administration Police and national administration.

The idea to lease vehicles within Government was initially mooted by Uhuru in the June 2010 Budget, when he served as Finance Minister.

The plan was, however, shelved for what Treasury then said was refusal to co-operate by ministries and other government agencies, including the police force.

In a radical move that could see the phasing out of State-owned auto-garages and possible loss of jobs, Uhuru said the leased vehicles would be maintained and fuelled by the supplying company.

Contracted firms will also deploy personnel to government offices to oversee the running of the fleet.

BUDGET PROPOSAL

While tabling the proposal in June during the Budget reading, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the arrangement would include insurance, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, replacement of non-functional vehicles, and fleet monitoring. Toyota Kenya won the tender to lease vehicles to the police for Sh3 billion.

Uhuru said he was committed to reforming the police force. He added that the Government would in the next five years invest Sh13 billion in security, of which Sh4 billion would go towards acquiring modern equipment, Sh4.5 billion towards operations and Sh1.5 billion towards research.

Deputy President William Ruto, cabinet secretaries Joseph ole Lenku (Interior), Henry Rotich (Treasury), Charity Ngilu (Lands), Najib Balala (Mining), Secretary to the Cabinet Joseph Kinyua, police boss David Kimaiyo, and Chairman of the National Police Service Commission Johnstone Kavuludi were present.