- CS Chirchir says the increase was necessary to maintain the country’s road infrastructure
- The country’s total road network length has increased from 161,451km in 2016 to 239,122km in 2024
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Increased road network, ageing roads and a large backlog in maintenance coupled with stagnation in revenue collection pushed the state to increase the road maintenance levy fund.
Roads CS Davis Chirchir, whose ministry hiked the levy, defended the move that triggered uproar.
Speaking during question time in the Senate, Chirchir said the increase was necessary to maintain the country’s road infrastructure.
“I would not be exaggerating to say that the recent adjustment in the fuel levy rate was a critical, vital and urgent step without which the heavy investment of recent years in building new roads would ultimately prove to be largely in vain,” he said.
The ministry increased the levies from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre.
The CS said the country’s total road network length has increased from 161,451km in 2016 to 239,122km in 2024.
In addition, the length of the paved road network has grown by 47 per cent between 2016 and 2024, with 25,411km covered as of 2024.
Coupled with an ageing road network and the existence of a large backlog in road maintenance, the government needs substantial financing to maintain the roads.
“Kerra paved roads which have lacked earmarked maintenance funding and are therefore orphaned as we speak. Increased urbanisation and the need for more maintenance in this urban environment,” he said.
However, the maintenance has been hampered by the stagnation of the RMLF collection over time, the decline of the levy due to inflation and the rising cost of road works.
“By way of example, for the 2024-25 financial year the cost of essential road maintenance activities for national roads is Sh157 billion,” he said.
However, the anticipated fuel levy collection for the same financial year is Sh79 billion, leaving a deficit of Sh78 billion.
Contributors to the financing gap include climate change and anticipated adverse trends in the roughness indices for the road network.
“Because of the above-mentioned funding gap in road maintenance, my ministry has not been able to perform all required maintenance,” the CS said.
“Indeed, in the financial year just ended, the road agencies, for the first time, were forced to suspend the award of several already tendered maintenance activities due to lack of budget.”
The ministry conducted public participation countrywide to discuss the proposal for review of the fuel levy, he said.
The CS disclosed that respondents were worried that an increase in the levy might result in a rise in the cost of living.
“Most Kenyans expect... that the significant gains made in the condition and extent of the road network, at great cost to Kenyans... should not be allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and dilapidation for want of timely maintenance and resources,” he stated.
As part of the drive to secure adequate road maintenance resources and direct them towards where they are most needed, the ministry will propose a legislative adjustment to ring fence part of the levy for maintenance of Kerra roads.
“We believe that the proposed refinement to the management of road maintenance funds for rural roads will be the key to a material improvement in the maintenance of particularly paved rural roads,” he said.
The RMLF was established in 1993 to provide sustainable resources for road maintenance and is adjusted from time to time based on need.
The last adjustment was in 2016 when the fuel levy was set at Sh18 per litre.
“However, by 2024, an unsustainably large financing gap had emerged between the cost of essential road maintenance and the resources collected from the fuel levy,” the CS explained.