Africa-Press – Cape verde. The State’s car park consists of 1,375 vehicles. Especially in Praia and Santiago, the perception persists that this public good has been used, for the most part, improperly. In another attempt to solve the problem, the Government is preparing the introduction of GPS in State vehicles.
State vehicles continue to be used as if they were personal or family property.
There are cases and situations in which public officials and managers use this public good for strictly personal tasks.
In full working hours, it is possible to see yellow plates taking children to school, spouses to work, shopping, weekend trips, etc., without any shame.
Accidents at late hours
On weekends, the picture is repeated, with “yellow plates” circulating on the roads of the capital and the interior of Santiago, without anything putting an end to this type of misuse of a public good that belongs to all taxpayers, with fuel also paid for by citizens through their taxes.
There have been accidents late at night involving state vehicles, without those responsible being held accountable.
A former administrator of a public company, who, in his “free time” taught at a university in Assomada, spent over 80,000 escudos a month just on fuel.
Luxury and high-capacity brands
Another aspect that stands out and that ends up hurting the susceptibility of taxpayers is the parade of luxury brands and high-capacity cars.
Each one buys the brand they want, in a kind of competition with another manager, and the price of these vehicles often exceeds seven thousand escudos.
There are several Ministries and decentralized services of the State that use high-cylinder vehicles, especially
Prados, sometimes to distribute banknotes in the capital.
Local power: high fuel costs
At the level of local government, the picture is not very different. Almost all City Councils in the interior of Santiago send vehicles to Praia daily to transport employees, with very high costs in terms of fuel consumption.
With the declaration of a social and economic emergency dictated by the impacts of the war in Ukraine and, consequently, with a significant increase in fuel prices, it makes perfect sense to adopt, at this moment, in the words of our source, measures to limit the use of state vehicles.
Furthermore, for a poor country, there are those who ask whether it makes sense for the State to provide function vehicles to those who, for the salary they earn and the purchasing power they have, can perfectly guarantee their personal transport.
Even because, several of the directors and managers, as soon as they see themselves in office, get rid of their personal vehicle to start circulating with “yellow plates”, preferably with high cylinder capacity.
1,375 vehicles
In total, the State’s national car park, excluding municipalities, public companies and regulatory agencies, comprises 1,375 vehicles.
Alcindo Mota, Secretary of State for Finance, who was willing to answer our questions in writing, says that
all of them are “duly registered” and that the Government is preparing a law that will allow the adoption of GPS in State vehicles for a greater control over its use.
It should be remembered, by the way, as soon as he took over the Municipality of Praia, the mayor Francisco Carvalho tried to adopt
this measure, immediately creating fissures in his relationship with two elements of his team, Samilo Moreira
and Chissana Magalhães, forever souring relations between them. .
Alcindo Mota says that, on the part of the Government, the idea is to create mechanisms for collecting and processing information in order to provide management indicators, planning and “credible and compatible control” with a “modern and effective” Public Administration (see box on page A04).
Will the misuse of state vehicles come to an end?
The law is clear, but no one complies
To combat situations such as those described in the main part of this article, it is necessary to apply the rules provided for by law. In other words, hold offenders accountable and punish offenders with fines for the improper and abusive use of State vehicles and disqualification from driving State vehicles.
In theory, any citizen, noting the irregular or abusive use of a State vehicle by drivers, directors, public managers, can report the fact to the police authorities to take the necessary measures.
In fact, the directors – national directors, general directors, service directors, and special staff – counselors, advisors, special advisors, directors of offices and secretaries of government officials, of the Civil Service, are not entitled to personal use of the State vehicle. Nor to the conduct of the same, except for special authorization granted by order of the supervising minister, on weekends and/or public holidays in case of need to work.
The control imposed by Decree-Law No. 21/2013 on the use of State vehicles was extended to Public Institutes, Regulatory Agencies, Independent Authorities and Public Companies, by DL No. government of Ulisses Correia e Silva.
This indicates that all vehicles with yellow plates, except for the exceptions provided for by law, must stop driving after the end of business hours and must not drive on weekends.
Fuel purchase and consumption center
The Centralized Acquisitions Management Unit, according to the Organization of the Ministry of Finance and Business Development, is the entity responsible for the centralized acquisition of vehicles for the State, and individualized acquisitions can be authorized for ministries, in case of urgency based on the interest public.
“The abusive or improper use of a vehicle, in disregard of the conditions of use established under the law, constitutes a disciplinary infraction, foreseen and punished under the terms of the law, ranging from the imposition of fines and temporary ban on driving State vehicles” , emphasizes Alcindo Mota in his clarification to A NAÇÃO.
Also, according to the same source, it is the duty of public servants to ensure the economy and conservation of public assets, thus being responsible for damages that, by action or omission, cause to any movable property of the State or third parties under their custody.
Regarding fuel consumption, the DGPCP guarantees that the State of Cape Verde also promotes the rationalization of its consumption.
“Thus, the procedures related to the supply of fuel in State vehicles are managed centrally by the General Directorate of Public Procurement, through a computer platform (Integrated Asset Management System) and managed by the DGPCP”, concludes that official.
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