On Saturday, June 17, a photo of a vehicle belonging to a government parastatal allegedly parked outside a nightclub elicited mixed reactions among Kenyans.
The vehicle had its number plates in blue, a colour assigned to parastatals by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.
Kenyans questioned why the official was using the government car for personal use.
"Please parastatal bosses, stop misusing taxpayers' money. Going with this car to a bar is not only abuse of office but insults to the taxpayers," one stated.
Some complained of other government officials who use bright lights and blaring sirens while on the road.
"Doesn't the National Police Service (NPS) have a special unit in the traffic department for these government vehicles? Send them to go and immediately confiscate this vehicle from whoever is misusing it," one complained.
However, some came to the official's defense arguing that he may have found the parking lot closed for the night.
"It is likely that this was the driver taking a break after dropping the boss," one added.
"What if he is in a short brief meeting or had a long day and was taking a break?" another questioned.
A section of Kenyans pin-pointed other areas government officials were casually parking their vehicles past the stipulated time. They noted that some of these notorious drivers can be found along Kiambu Road.
According to the National Police Service (NPS), the Government Vehicle Check Unit (GVCU) is tasked with dealing with rogue officials misusing government vehicles.
The unit is tasked with ensuring that all government vehicles are used for government work and purposes only.
Other roles include generating revenue through surcharges, enforcing traffic rules with respect to government vehicles, safeguarding against misuse of government vehicles, and ensuring that facilitate the GK vehicle service into serving the public as intended by the government.
On parastatals, the unit ensures that the vehicles are driven by established drivers who maintain high standards at all times.
It has the right to arrest and impound any vehicle which breaks the law and take it to the nearest police station to pay surcharge rates.
