Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen is seeking to increase the road maintenance levy by Ksh5 to cater for inflation in the cost of road construction materials.
Speaking during a media interview on Spice FM, Murkomen added that the move would assist in maintaining the state of murram roads across the country.
The CS stated that over 5,000 roads were constructed but there was no plan on how to maintain them, owing to budgetary constraints.
He also dismissed the practicability of the recommendation made by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) which called for the reduction of the levy by Ksh5 maintaining that it is not feasible.
The levy, commonly referred to as the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, is collected at the pump and is currently set at Ksh18 per litre of petrol and diesel.
If Murkomen's proposal is adopted, it means that motorists would pay Ksh23 per litre of fuel at the pump, leading to an increase in fuel prices.
"There are 5,000 Kilometres of roads constructed and not maintained. These are orphaned roads as you'll find they are full of potholes since they are not maintained," he stated.
Murkomen explained the worrying state of roads across the country, indicating that the government owes contractors over Ksh700 billion, out of which Ksh400 billion is owed to the Chinese contractors. This, as a result, led to pending road projects for years.
He detailed that the Kenya Kwanza administration was committed to settling the debt to enable the contractors to complete the projects.
" Many of the contractors come to my office crying. Either the banks are selling their houses, or some are admitted to hospitals. People are suffering. We then have to negotiate with the banks to give them time to complete the payment," he stated.
"We will not commence on any new project unless that project is from a development partner such as the World Bank, or African Development Bank."
"I've told President William Ruto and my colleagues at the Cabinet, in fact, I am likely to be an unpopular CS if the people don't appreciate that the resources are not there for us to build the roads."
