Nyeri residents who showed up to submit their views on the proposed changes to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund 2016, at the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) offices, were greeted with surprise after they were asked to present their views in writing.
The KRB officials, who told KNA they are not authorized to speak to the media, said that they had received a communication from the Ministry of Roads asking them to facilitate the Roads ministry in receiving written memoranda.
They further told KNA that they had been directed to facilitate the members of the public who turned up for the exercise, with papers to jot down their views.
“We were to host the public participation exercise on behalf of the Ministry of Roads and Transport but we received instructions from the headquarters asking us to direct the participants to write down their views.
Due to the security concerns, the one-on-one engagement will only take place at the ministry’s headquarters,” said the source.
According to a newspaper advertisement, the exercise was slated to take place on Monday in Nairobi at the Ministry Headquarters and at regional offices of the roads agencies in Nyeri, Eldoret, Nakuru, Isiolo, Machakos, Kisumu, Garissa, and Mombasa.
The advert had set Friday July 5 as the deadline for the public to submit their written comments through e-mail or hand deliver them to KRB headquarters in Nairobi.
The Roads Ministry had invited public views on the proposed changes to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (Imposition of Levy) 2016. The ministry is also welcoming views on its proposed amendment on the Road Maintenance Fund Act, 1993 where there are proposals to increase the road maintenance levy on petrol and diesel from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre.
Last month, Roads, Transport and Public Works Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen urged parliament to approve the 39 per cent increase on the levy to help his ministry sustain the increase in road maintenance needs and maintenance resources. The current road network is estimated to be at about 238,000 kilometres.
There is a 77,000 kilometres more than the total road network in 2016 when the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (Imposition of Levy) 2016 was last amended.
“Increase the fuel levy charge from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre to bridge the wide financing gap in maintenance needs and maintenance resources,” said Murkomen.
During the 2023/2023 finanical year, collected Sh 84 billion through the Road Maintenance Levy. The Kenya National Highways Authority Received 40 per cent of the total amount collected, while Kenya Rural Roads Authority received 32 per cent per the recommendations of the Kenya Roads Board Act of 1999.
The Kenya Urban Roads Authority was allocated 15 per cent of the total collection while the KRB received 2 per cent. The Kenya Wildlife Services which is responsible for maintaining park road received one per cent of the money collected through the Road Maintenance Levy Fund.
By Wangari Mwangi
