Senior Advisor in the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, Moses Kuria, has advised the government to disband Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), which manage funds from the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).
There has been a heated debate on the allocation and management of the RMLF, which is collected through the fuel levies between the county and national governments.
While the national government argues for centralised control to ensure efficiency, county governments and leaders like former Prime Minister Raila Odinga see this as a move that undermines devolution and local governance.
Speaking in Narok County, President Ruto had urged the governors to allow him to control the funds and use them to construct more roads.
"I would request these honorable members... if you leave me with that road money you are battling for, I can plan for more funds to construct all these roads," Ruto said.
On his part, Kuria partly agrees with Ruto that the National Government should control the Kenya National Highways Authority, with 100 per cent of the Roads Development Budget directed there. However, he suggests that the counties formulate a County Roads Authority to manage roads in the county.
''The Kenya Roads Board allocates the funds from Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to the County Roads Authorities in the same proportion as the Revenue Sharing Formula as set by the Commission for Revenue Allocation,'' Kuria suggested.
According to Kuria, county assemblies should allocate money for roads, and this money should be managed by the County Roads Authority. The authority should be independent and work under the guidance of the Kenya Roads Board (KRB).
Kuria further suggests that counties can use financial tools like loans or bonds to raise extra funds from investors, based on the money they already have from the RMLF and other county budgets. This way, counties can gather enough resources to build and maintain roads effectively.
On Friday, while attending a burial in Siaya, Raila Odinga delved into the debate and criticized the National Government for wanting to control the funds, arguing that the move would undermine county roles and threaten devolution.
''It doesn’t make sense that somebody sitting in Nairobi is constructing roads in Mombasa town. That’s why it’s so inefficient," Raila said.
