via Legislators’ cars cost taxpayers $16m – DailyNews Live by Chengetai Zvauya 13 NOVEMBER 2013
Zimbabwe’s free spending government is splashing $16 million on top-of-the-range off-road vehicles at a time when many people are facing starvation.
The tender, floated yesterday by the State Procurement Board, is inviting bids for Isuzu trucks and Toyota Prados.
The Central Mechanical Engineering Department specifies in the tender that it is looking to buy 20 Toyota Prado VXL vehicles and 250 Isuzu double cab vehicles.
The 250 Isuzus are for legislators while the 20 Toyota Prado VXL vehicles are for Cabinet ministers.
Just last month, government invited bids for 100 Ford Rangers.
In a bid to support the local automotive industry, government was looking at sourcing the 100 Ford Rangers from the ailing government-owned Wilowvale Mazda Motor Industries.
The parliamentary committee on Industry and Commerce has been seized with the matter, with chairperson of the committee Ray Kaukonde confirming that his committee was advocating that Willowvale gets the Ford Ranger deal.
Willowvale has said it has the capacity to procure the vehicles from South Africa’s General Motors.
Next week, Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha is expected to tour Willowvale to assess the plant and capacity of the company.
COMMENTS
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A POLITICIAN! CARS DRIVE ME CRAZY! LET THE POOR EAT CAKE! WHO GIVES A DAMN!!!
Where’s Shebah, that car-loving-Zimbabwe’s-rich-look-at-all-the-cars-on-the-roads ha! ha! $16 for those idiot legislators, who can’t legislate theor way out of a wet paper bag! Fools!
$16 Million!
Together with J, Farai and a few other honest fellow-country mean.
20 Toyota Prado VXL vehicles and 250 Isuzu double cab vehicles at a cost of $16 million. In July Mugabe bought each Zanu PF parliamentary candidate a new pick-truck, at a cost of $20 million, to use in their campaigning and three months later the same individuals are getting yet another new vehicle!
No wonder politicians of all parties were fighting like wild cats to be elected and why none of the Zanu PF candidates were even bothered at the blatant vote rigging that took place. Indeed many of them, if not all, even played a very active role in the vote rigging.
They all wanted to be on the gravy train and we can see way it is called the gravy train – a guaranteed life of unparalleled luxuries for the next five years.
The problem is the gravy train keeps getting longer or bigger and our poor little country simply can’t keep all the free riders happy.
Thats how they pay each other, through cars, and allowances for foreign trips, thats politics , they have families to feed with little money, Mukoma
It is my hope the $16m vehicles will solve the economic quagmire we are in.
Who cares just another blatant example that the politicians don’t care ,it seems the only thing this govt can do is steal until there is nothing left to steel!Cars should be handed out when many good things have been achieved not when the country is broke and closing down!