Governors Push for 42 Percent Share of Roads Levy Fund

The Council of Governors has stepped up its campaign for a bigger share of the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), urging the Senate to amend the Kenya Roads (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2025 to allocate 42 percent of the fund to county governments.

Appearing before the Senate Roads, Transport and Housing Committee, COG Transport, Infrastructure and Energy Committee Chairperson Kimani Wamatangi said the proposed five percent allocation to counties does not reflect the Constitution or the current road management structure in the country.

According to the Kenya Roads Register 2024, counties manage 182,092 kilometres, which is 76.15 percent of Kenya’s 239,122-kilometre road network.

“When counties are responsible for over three-quarters of the road network, allocating only five percent of the levy cannot be justified,” Wamatangi told the committee chaired by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch.

The debate follows a High Court ruling in June 2025 that declared the exclusion of counties from direct allocation of the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund unconstitutional. The court faulted provisions in the Kenya Roads Act and the Kenya Roads Board Act. The Court of Appeal later gave Parliament 12 months, until July 2026, to amend the law to prevent disruption of road maintenance funding.

Wamatangi said the current legal framework was enacted before the 2010 Constitution. The Kenya Roads Act created three national agencies: the Kenya National Highways Authority, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority. However, the Constitution assigns national trunk roads to the national government, while county roads fall under county governments.

The amendment Bill, sponsored in the Senate by Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, seeks to reclassify roads into two categories: National Trunk Roads and County Roads. It also proposes that counties receive five percent of the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund.

In the 2024/25 financial year, total collections from the levy stood at Sh119.7 billion. Under the current proposal, counties would receive about Sh6 billion. However, the Council of Governors wants the allocation revised to 42 percent through redistribution of existing shares.

Under the governors’ proposal, part of the funds previously allocated to the Constituency Roads Fund and roads linking constituencies would go directly to counties. National trunk roads would remain under the national government, while the share for urban roads would be divided between national and county levels. Funds for roads in national parks would be co-managed with host counties, while the administrative allocation would remain unchanged.

Wamatangi said the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund is a user-pay fund collected from motorists and should not be replaced by general equitable share allocations. He argued that equitable share funds are meant for broad services such as health, water and agriculture, while the levy is specifically for road maintenance.

While welcoming the Bill’s recognition of county roads as a separate category, the governors are seeking further amendments to ensure road classification aligns fully with constitutional functions. They want certain urban and rural roads placed under county governments and are proposing a joint intergovernmental mechanism to handle road classification and reclassification to ensure proper consultation.

Beyond funding, the Council of Governors is also pushing for structural reforms. The governors want changes to Section 7 of the Kenya Roads Board Act to allow counties direct representation in national road governance. They are also calling for the removal of Constituency Roads Committees and the eventual restructuring of KURA and KeRRA once road reclassification is completed.

Wamatangi said the proposed reforms are in line with the 2013 Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms, also known as the Abdikadir Report, and a Cabinet decision made in January 2025 to merge KURA and KeRRA.

Responding to concerns about capacity, Wamatangi dismissed claims that counties are not ready to manage additional road funds. He said counties have already been maintaining most of Kenya’s roads despite limited funding and have qualified engineers in their roads departments.

He urged senators to use their constitutional mandate under Article 96 to protect devolution and ensure resources follow functions. He said motorists who pay the levy on every litre of fuel expect road maintenance to be handled by the level of government closest to them.

The Bill is currently under consideration by the Senate committee before it is tabled for debate in the House.