Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen says the government is owed approximately Ksh700 billion in the road sector.

This is despite a report by the Controller of Budget showing that as of September 30, 2023, both the national and county governments had pending bills amounting to Ksh794 billion, with Ksh121.19 billion (15.3 per cent) owed by ministries, departments, and agencies.

Speaking on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, when he appeared before the Senate, Murkomen said that pending bills is one of the main challenges faced by the government if development.

“If there is a big challenge to this government, it is to deal with nearly Ksh700 billion of pending bills in the road sector. I do not know which formula we will use to sort it out in the next four years. But the promise of this government is to find ways of reducing it significantly so that people can get at least 2,000 or 3,000 kilometres of roads completed,” Murkomen said.

Murkomen said most of the pending bills emanate from the 2020/21 financial year.

According to a report from the controller of budget, the total outstanding pending bills for both national and county governments as at September 30, 2023, was Ksh794.18 billion.

The amounts comprised of Ksh509.37 billion (64.1 per cent) for state corporations, Ksh121.19 billion (15.3 per cent) for ministries, departments, and agencies and Ksh163.62 billion (20.6 per cent) for county governments.

Murkomen also revealed that his Ministry will require at least Ksh100 billion for the next financial year to initiate and complete development projects.

“If our budget proposal for road sector is approved, we shall be able to do all roads, compesate the land owners and pay pending bills. We need Ksh100 billion in the next financial year,” he added.

Murkomen on accidents

Murkomen spoke a day after announcing the return of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to the roads following increased number of road accidents.

The CS, while revealing that the changes come after consulting with his interior counterpart CS Kithure Kindiki, directed NTSA to collaborate with the National Police Service (NPS) for efficient enforcement.

“Having consulted with my Interior and National Coordination colleague, Prof. Kithure Kindiki, we are going to establish a mechanism where the previous directive to remove NTSA from enforcement will be vacated and a collaborative regime between NTSA and NPS will be put in place for a more efficient enforcement,” CS Murkomen said.

“You will be seeing a return of the NTSA working with traffic police to enforce traffic safety on our roads as soon as possible,” he added.

The CS also announced the resumption of re-testing for all PSV and heavy commercial drivers which had been postponed effectively immediately.