Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has said the government will appeal the High Court ruling that declared Section 6 of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) Act unconstitutional as it excluded counties from getting their fair share of the kitty. 

The move could open a new battle line between the national and county governments as the ministry seeks to have the final say over the use of the fund that rakes in between Ksh70 billion and Ksh80 billion.

Speaking during the launch of Kenya Road Design Manuals and Specifications, Chirchir acknowledged the challenge posed by the ruling. 

“As late as Thursday, we faced a challenge where sections of RMLF have been declared unconstitutional, and we need to work quickly together,” Chirchir said. 

Declared unconstitutional 

“We are trying to address ourselves to Section 6 of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund Act, which has been declared unconstitutional. And that is the section which talks about sharing 50 per cent of the resources which go into maintaining and building some of our roads today.” 

Chirchir said that the fund, collected weekly through a petroleum levy, is critical in keeping Kenyan roads smooth. 

“To the extent that section has been declared unconstitutional, we are consulting very quickly, very widely, to see how to adopt that challenge and align RMLF in line with Schedule 4 of the Constitution to ensure that we do not lag behind in raising the funds that we collect almost on a weekly basis through the RMLF or the petroleum levy that then allows us to maintain our roads,” he said. 

He stressed the urgency of resolving the standoff arising from the court ruling, especially after the recent rainy season that could severely damage neglected road foundations. 

“We have come out of a rainy period. We need to be able to support our roads financially to ensure that we do not get the foundations of our roads totally destroyed because of a lack of maintenance. If we allow our substructures to be destroyed, then it becomes really expensive to maintain those roads.” 

The CS said that his ministry is seeking legal redress quickly to resolve the challenge to ensure that government agencies charged with road maintenance are not affected. 

“We want to get a legal interpretation of that ruling that we got on Thursday, to see how quickly we can reconstitute Section 6 to allow us to share that piece of revenue from RMLF and allow you guys (road agencies under Ministry of Transport) to maintain roads in that shared formula that has been declared must include county governments,” he said. 

Last week, High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi ruled that governors must have a share of the Ksh10.5 billion budget allocated for road maintenance and directed the National Assembly to disburse the money to counties by June 30, 2025. 

National Assembly had struck out counties from the list of beneficiaries of the road maintenance fund since September 2023. 

However, the issue took a new twist this year after the Former Prime Minister waded into the debate and pushed for the fund to be devolved. 

“The decisions by the National Assembly violated Articles 6, 10, and 186 of the Constitution and cannot stand. The decision by the National Assembly undermined the principles of devolution,” Mugambi said. 

Outdated manuals 

With the updated road design manuals, Chirchir said that Kenyan engineers will be empowered to build roads that are safe for children and pedestrians, friendly to cyclists, resilient to extreme weather, and cost-effective to build and maintain.  

“This is a transformative step for every Kenyan, whether urban and rural, motorised and unmotorized, able-bodied and vulnerable. The updated manuals and specifications represent years of research, technical collaboration and consultations, stakeholders’ engagement and support from development partners,” he added. 

Noting that some of the new Kenyan roads were built using outdated manuals, which were last reviewed in 1987, Roads Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua emphasised that there was a need for the ministry to review the documents to incorporate best practices in road development and maintenance.