The Council of Governors (COG) has raised concern about the remarks made by the members of the National Assembly against county governments' stake in the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).
In a press statement on Thursday, February 27, COG condemned the claims in which MPs are seeking to have counties locked out of the fund. The governors argued that counties are responsible for the development of the majority of Kenya’s Road network.
The condemnation came a day after Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung'wah called for the classification of roads across the country to shield Members of Parliament from criticism.
Speaking during a National Assembly Proceeding, Ichung'wah said that the country should emulate other African countries to classify roads based on whether they were constructed by the National Government or County Government.
“We should get to that level where the Ministry of Roads and Infrastructure does a proper classification of roads so that if this is a government road Class A let it be labeled as NGA- National Government Class A, the same with county government roads,” Ichung’wah said.
Council of Governors chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi stated that the remarks made were unpatriotic, in bad taste, and ignorance of constitutional underpinnings that have assigned the road functions to both levels of government.
“We note with utmost concern the recent unsubstantiated remarks by members of the National Assembly on the allocation of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund to the counties,” Abdullahi said.
He clarified that the National Government has been assigned national roads and highways whereas County Governments have been entrusted to manage county roads.
“The Road Maintenance Level Funds (RMLF) is a fund that was specially established to maintain roads constructed and maintained by the two levels of the government. As a matter of fact, County Government construct and maintain the bulk share of the road networks,” Abdullahi noted.
COG revealed that according to the Road Condition and Inventory Survey by Kenya Roads Board in 2024, the County Governments have developed and maintained 5400km of tarmac roads which is an increase from 4200km in 2018.
According to COG, the MPs have abdicated their legislative mandate by delaying the enactment of the County Governments Additional Allocations Act 2024/25 thus delaying Kenyan's service delivery.
Abdullahi stated that the National Assembly should focus on the review and enactment of legislation in the roads sector that conforms and aligns with the Constitution 2010.
“This includes amendments to the Roads Act,2007 to align with the Cabinet resolution to merge KeRRA and KURA as the two-state corporations are undertaking County functions,” COG added.
Abdullahi called upon the senate, Civil Society Groups, County Governments, and members of the public to hold the National Assembly to account in order for them to prevent counties as beneficiaries of RMLF.
On November 12, 2024, the Members of the National Assembly demanded control of the Ksh.10.5 billion Roads Maintenance Levy Fund as a condition for allowing counties to receive Ksh.400 billion in sharable revenue for the 2024/2025 financial year.
