The National Assembly has rejected proposals by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority to reduce projected funding ceilings for Constituency roads from 22% to 15%.
The House also rejected proposals by KeRRA to reduce funding for critical roads from the current 10% to 6.8% in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.
This follows a report tabled by the chairperson of the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure George Kariuki, that recommended the rejection of the proposed reductions.
In the report, the committee argues that the communication made by KeRRA is inconsistent with Section 6 of the Kenya Roads Board Act, 1999 and the resolutions of the 9th National and County Governments Coordinating Summit held in February 2023.
The summit resolved that the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) allocation to the counties would be given consideration in the 2024/25 Financial Year through a restructured process.
Implementation of the resolution would entail amendment of the Kenya Roads Board Act, 1999 which has not been done.
Making contributions on the floor of the House, Kariuki who is also Ndia MP, said that the committee deliberated on the contents of a communication from KeRRA to regional directors regarding the reduction of projected funding ceilings to the constituency roads.
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui, noted that government officials are trying to change laws forgetting that laws can only be changed by Parliament.
“It is unfortunate that government officials ignore the law. For example, the colour of school buses were changed to yellow yet this change was not approved by this House,”Mbui said.
While supporting the committee’s recommendations, Gilgil MP Martha Wangari acknowledged that some constituencies are vast and rely on the Roads Maintenance Levy Funds to develop road networks.
She further urged the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure to stand firm in its decision concerning the matter.
Moiben MP Phylis Bartoo, lauded the Committee for being vigilant saying that Parliament is a House of record and that the House has not passed any amendment to reduce the projected funding ceiling.
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