Kenyans will have to dig deeper into their pockets in order to pay toll fees on new and existing roads if Members of Parliament pass the bill into law.
In the proposed law, the Treasury indicated that the toll fees would be applied to roads that have traffic in order to generate the required revenue.
The Public Finance Management (National Road Toll Fund) Regulations 2021 was passed by the National Assembly’s Committee on Delegated Legislation.
Should the Bill sail through, the government will implement the Public Roads Toll Act, Cap 407 which will be used as a guide on the charges of toll fees on the roads within the Central Business District (CBD).
The highways targeted include Thika superhighway, Nairobi-Nakuru, Nairobi-Mombasa, and the Southern Bypass. Further, roads such as Jogoo, Lang'ata, Ngong will also be targeted.
Initially, the government had proposed to charge toll fees on only new roads through the Public-Private partnerships (PPP).
For instance, the Nairobi Expressway, which is about to be commissioned, will have toll stations at different entry and exit points in order to raise the required maintenance funds.
The China Road and Bridge Corporation is expected to manage the road for 27 years before handing it over to the Kenyan government.
Motorists will be charged between Ksh310 to Ksh1,798 depending on the size of the vehicle. This means that Kenyans with Saloon cars will be expected to cough up to Ksh310 per trip while those with light vehicles with two axles and raised bonnet will pay Ksh465.
Heavy vehicle drivers will pay Ksh1,240 while those that have more than four axles will be expected to pay Ksh1,798 inclusive of Value Added Tax.
Motorists using the Nairobi - Nakuru highway through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will have to pay an average of Ksh100 and Ksh150 in order to use the route.
Further, the toll charges will be dollar-based in a bid to cushion the foreign companies from incurring any exchange rate losses. The re-introduction of the toll fees comes after the law was scrapped in the mid-1990s in order to get rid of corruption at the toll stations.
