The National Treasury has announced that plans are underway to enlist a company that will implement the tolling system on some of Kenya's major highways.
In a notice put out on Wednesday, the Treasury outlined that it is looking for a transaction adviser to help in recruiting a tolling operator.
The system will be implemented for roads that are presently operational and others yet to be constructed.
"The objective of the transaction adviser assignment is to assist the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Unit and contracting agencies with the competitive procurement of a project sponsor of a tolling operator for Kenya’s First Mover Toll Roads PPP programme through a PPP arrangement," the notice read in part.
Roads that have been earmarked for the operation include the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, the Second Nyali Bridge that will connect Mombasa Island to the mainland, the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit road, the Nairobi Southern Bypass and the Thika superhighway.
The government intends to upgrade or construct the roads through public-private sector collaboration where the contracted private firms will undertake construction and ensure that the roads remain operational for a period of between 10 and 30 years.
The fees collected from motorists using the roads, through the tolling system, will go towards maintaining the good condition of the said roads.
The government has suggested that the money collected through the Road Maintenance Levy has not been sufficient to meet the cost of maintaining the roads.
Currently, the levy is Sh18 and is attached to the price motorists pay for fuel. In 2016, the governement collected a total of Sh40 Billion in this way.
