Audit reveals 80 government vehicles missing in KP

PESHAWAR: A recent audit report has revealed 80 missing government vehicles in the official records of the Livestock and Dairy Development Department, which were purchased for several livestock development projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) between 2007 and 2021, ARY News reported.

In the audit conducted for the fiscal year 2023–24, major discrepancies have been found between the department’s submitted list of 97 vehicles and the Excise Department’s stats.

According to the Excise records, an additional 80 vehicles were registered under the name of the Director General of Livestock. However, these vehicles were neither listed in departmental records nor physically present in field offices.

Several government vehicles are currently missing, including 10 Suzuki Wagon-Rs, one Suzuki Bolan, one Toyota Gli, and nine Toyota Hilux trucks. Moreover, there are 59 vehicles whose models are still unidentified.

Regardless of official registration, these vehicles were missing during field inspections, suggesting possible theft or misuse.

The audit report attributes the failure to weak administrative controls and warns that the vehicles may be in use by unauthorised individuals.

The department remained silent and did not provide any response in this regard when the issue was raised in December 2024. A departmental accounts committee meeting was requested in January 2025, but had not been convened by the time the report was finalised.

In response, Fazal Hakim, Provincial Minister KP Livestock Department, confirmed that recovery letters have been issued to the department, and an inquiry committee has been formed under the supervision of the Secretary of Livestock.

The committee is given the responsibility to locate the missing government vehicles and identify the responsible individuals.

This incident has sparked public concern over transparency and accountability in government asset management.

Civil society groups and political figures are calling for broader audits across other departments to prevent similar lapses.