The Motorist Association of Kenya (MAK) has launched a scathing attack on the government’s plan to introduce tolls on the proposed Rironi–Mau Summit dual carriageway.

The association has called the move “highway robbery dressed as infrastructure” and a betrayal of taxpayers who already fund roads through multiple heavy taxes.

In a widely shared statement posted on X on December 4, 2025, the association accused the government of deliberately delaying the upgrade of the Nairobi–Nakuru–Eldoret corridor for 16 years despite collecting billions annually from motorists.

“All the vehicles we import – the same ones government officials accuse of congesting our highways – are already heavily taxed upfront, not equivalent to their cost. We pay taxes on the full Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value, then registration fees, driving licence fees, fuel taxes that make up almost half the pump price, VAT, PAYE, excise duties, and countless levies,” the association wrote.

Concerns over double taxation

The motorists’ body questioned why, after faithfully collecting these revenues, the government now wants to “quietly come through the back door and demand that we pay extra through tolls” on an existing public highway, whose upgrade was initially estimated at Ksh 100 billion but has ballooned to Ksh 170 billion.

“If the exchequer collects all these taxes faithfully, why is it that instead of giving us a simple Rironi–Mau Summit dual carriageway… they now want to demand that we pay extra through tolls? What do these mandarins, whose salaries we fund, take us for?” the statement read.

The association described the 16-year delay as “the real scandal”, arguing that a fraction of daily taxes could have funded gradual upgrades.

“We pay every day, so we expect everyday improvements,” they said, adding that rising vehicle numbers reported annually by the Kenya Bureau of Standards should expand the tax base rather than be used as an excuse for congestion.

Call for transparency

In a scathing indictment, MAK accused the government of shifting from public service to “protector of Private Profiteering Partnerships (PPPs)” where public officers end up working for private interests.

They cited the recent increase of the Road Maintenance Levy to Ksh 25 per litre and the securitisation of contractors’ pending bills onto vehicle owners as evidence of double taxation.

“If government fails to deliver the services these taxes are meant to fund and instead resorts to tolls, which were already replaced by the Fuel Levy, then it is no longer serving the public,” the association declared.

Pointing out that traffic flows smoothly on ordinary days except for the notorious Mbaruk bottleneck between Naivasha and Nakuru, they challenged:

“Fix that using our taxes. And if the government cannot, then let Kenyans do a harambee, because the audits clearly show our taxes are not being used where they should.”

The motorists warned against handing over the corridor to “foreign private geo-interests in cahoots with local cartels who want to milk our children and us for 30 years” through a 30-year PPP concession.

In a final defiant note, they stated, “Everything you want to achieve through a toll road can be achieved better, fairly, and more sustainably through a non-tolled public road… Kenya deserves honesty, not highway robbery dressed as infrastructure.”