Senators, MPs in tussle over Ksh60b roads cash

National Assembly and the Senate are embroiled in a tussle over the County Government’s Additional Allocation Bill, 2024 that seeks to unlock Ksh 61 billion into the economy.
At the centre of the row is the utilisation of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) worth Ksh10.5 billion, which the lawmakers want to take control of and sideline governors.
The law stipulates that the Kenya Roads Board (KRB), which collects up to Sh100billion annually from fuel levy, is required to allocate at least 22 per cent of RFML and road toll collections for use in the development and upkeep of roads in all the constituencies.
It is also required to allocate 10 per cent to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) for maintenance of link roads within constituencies.
RMLF is contained in the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2024, which has stalled at the Mediation stage after both the two houses, differed on the bill after the National Assembly removed County Governments as beneficiaries of RMLF.
The County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2024, has among others conditional allocations financed by proceeds of loans or grants from development partners and conditional allocations to each county government from National Government share of revenue for the financial year 2023/2024.
Because of the MPs intransigence, the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, containing Sh61billion in additional allocation lapsed after the two houses failed to agree on the right version.
Proper version
The two houses had 30 days to agree on a proper version of the bill which ended on December 25 last year.
This means that some programmes crucial to Kenya Kwanza administration may never take off which includes the Integrated Industrial Parks.
After failing to agree on the inclusion of the RMLF, the National Assembly members of the mediating team, have insisted that their Senate counterparts should implore on the Council of Governors (CoG) to withdraw the case.
This is after CoG and other parties filed a petition, challenging the National Assembly’s decision to remove County Governments as beneficiaries of the RMLF. The High Court issued interim conservatory orders suspending this decision and freezing Sh10.5billion in RMLF funds, pending a hearing in March.
The orders halted progress on the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2024, which includes the RMLF allocation, delaying the mediation process.
In response, the National Assembly opposed the petition and filed an urgent application to lift the orders, set to be heard in February 2025. And now, Senators wants the bill amended and all provisions dealing with RLMF removed so as to allow the courts to look into it and provide what they argue is highly required clarity on the disbursement of the fund.
Senators Boni Khalwale (Kakamega), Eddy Oketch (Migori) and Richard Onyonka (Kisii) members of the Senate Finance Committee accused their lower house colleagues of deliberately occasioning the delay in the passage of the Bill.
“The MPs are not satisfied with the NG-CDF kitty. They are still dying to control RMLF. There is no any other reason. Objectively, that money should be left for the Governors. But because they have remained adamant, let the courts decide,” said Khalwale.
Greed
“It is unconstitutional for MPs to try to control RMLF. It is just pure greed. The MPs are sabotaging the functions of the County governments. We will not allow the MPs to control RMLF because that is not their function,” charged Oketch.
According to Onyonka, there are some constituencies that are being given grants to the tune of Sh1billion for the construction of roads yet that is not a function of the MPs.
“RMLF is being abused. All money for the construction of roads are being abused. The money being allocated to the roads agencies should be given to the counties to maintain the rural roads,” said Onyonka. County Chiefs have challenged the constitutionality of the National Assembly to deny the county governments’ funds collected from taxes for maintaining roads yet county roads fall under their jurisdiction.
CoG chairperson Governor Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) said counties used to get funds for the maintenance of the County roads, adding that the Constitution only provides for National Trunk roads and the County roads.
According to Abdullahi, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) created before the onset of devolution should have been aligned to the new constitutional dispensation.
“In our view, the National Government should have retained KeNHA while all the other monies for the construction and maintenance of roads should have been given to Counties as equitable share or as conditional grants,” charged Abdullahi.
CoG now wants the impasse unlocked so that other conditional grants from the development partners amounting to more than Sh45billion be released for implementation.
“We have suggested all manner of ways through dialogue to unlock County Governments Additional Allocation. For us it is a very plain constitutional provision on Roads. Further delay will hamper the implementation and absorption of the conditional grants from the development partners,” said Abdullahi.
He went on: “We can pass the law pending the RMLF component so that we don’t stagnate the implementation of other programs. Why should we delay other programs because of only one component?
To resolve the impasse, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah now wants the MPs and Governors to reach an agreement on the RMLF to unlock the stalemate on funds allocations to devolved units.