The High Court of Kenya on Thursday, June 5, handed a win to devolution in a landmark ruling handing over the control of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to county governments.
Delivered by High Court Justice Lawrence Mugambi, the ruling quashed the decisions of the National Assembly of September 28, 2023, that failed to recognise county governments as beneficiaries of the fund, popularly known as the fuel levy, in the financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.
It also voided another decision made on August 13, 2024, by the same National Assembly that further removed county governments as beneficiaries of over Ksh10 billion in conditional grants from funds derived from the fund in the 2024/25 financial year.
While making the decision, Justice Mugambi stated that the National Assembly decisions violated Article 186 (1) as read with Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule, Section 18 of the Constitution.
Instead, the MPs based the decisions on Section 6 of the Kenya Roads Board Act, 1999, which the judge has also declared unconstitutional for contravening the letter and spirit of Articles 6, 10, 186 and Section 18 of Part I of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.
"A declaration that any appropriation of funds from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) by the 1st respondent that does not provide for the county governments as beneficiaries of the RMLF undermines the principles of devolution, is unconstitutional, unenforceable, illegal, null and void," part of the ruling by Justice Mugambi stated.
As a result of the ruling, the Kenya Roads Board is expected to disburse Ksh10,522,211,853 to county governments by June 30.
This comes after months of the county and national governments going back and forth over the implications of either party controlling the crucial fund.
Reacting after the ruling, senators took to social media, celebrating the win as a win for devolution, including Kiambu's Karung'o wa Thang'wa, who wrote, "Justice Mugambi has slayed the ghost of parliamentary supremacy! He’s quashed MPs’ illegal move to deny counties their rightful share of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), Ksh 10.5B must now go to counties by 30th June 2025!"
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina echoed these sentiments, stating, "A big win for County Governments and devolution on RMLF. Poleni National Assembly...slowly, CDF will be a thing of the past."
The Orange Democratic Party also welcomed the ruling, stating that it was a victory for every Kenyan who believes in the promise of devolution, equitable development, and accountable governance.
"As a party, we stand firm - we will always defend the right of counties to receive what is justly theirs," part of ODM's statement read.
