Veep uses borrowed vehicle

Vice President Joyce Banda is using a borrowed Nissan Patrol vehicle from SS rent a car company after her official Prado developed engine failure last week Thursday on its way from Lilongwe to Blantyre.

The borrowed vehicle is not for hire but used by the owner of SS rent a car.

“The VP’s official vehicle is down and she had no option but to borrow one from SS rent a car. She is using it right now and on Monday she went to Lunzu for a function on the same vehicle,” a source said.

The source said the registration number of the borrowed vehicle is removed. But the words ‘SS rent a car’ can be seen on the vehicle.

According to the source, government has not yet responded to the VP’s call for another vehicle.

“The vehicle that she is using is not befitting a Vice President. I wonder why government has not responded to the need immediately. She is Vice President whether one likes it or not,” said the source.

An official at SS rent a car company also confirmed that the VP is using a vehicle that belongs to the owner of the company.

“It is a Nissan Patrol. It was collected a few days ago. The vehicle is not for hire because it is used by the owner of the company but perhaps that is the only vehicle from our company that a VP could use,” the official said.

The official said it is not clear whether the VP has hired the vehicle or just borrowed it.

Another source said that the VP used the vehicle when she donated a generator to 10 year old boy, Hamusa Square, who was hit by a vehicle as he tried to cross the road to see her as she was passing from Lilongwe to Blantyre on December 10 2009.

The boy has since become dumb, blind and paralysed.

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