Senate to Summon CS Chirchir over Road Devolution Stalemate

The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations plans to summon the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Davis Chirchir, along with representatives from the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA), the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC), and the Council of Governors (CoG).

The forum aims to discuss policy alignment to implement the Constitution, rationalize road agencies, and ensure road maintenance funds are fully devolved to county governments.

This move follows a tense meeting with Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) management over a 13-year delay in transferring road functions to counties. Senators expressed frustration that, despite a Cabinet decision to merge KURA and KERRA, an IGRTC notice listing them for rationalization, and a court ruling confirming county responsibility for rural and urban roads, no practical steps have been taken.

Senators said the operational confusion, with KURA claiming and developing urban estate roads, has hurt service delivery, pointing to the recent Nairobi floods where neither the county nor KURA took full responsibility.

KURA Director General Eng. Silas Kinoti defended the Authority, saying it manages National Urban Trunk Roads in cities and partners with counties, sometimes using county funds to maintain roads. He argued that many counties lack the capacity to manage roads independently and warned that a rushed transfer of functions could undermine the sector’s gains.

Senators, however, dismissed his explanations, calling the inaction resistance from national government officers. Senator Abbas criticized the funding model, saying the KSh 19 billion allocated to KURA should be shared among the 47 counties to ensure fairness.

Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka emphasized that devolution exists to improve service delivery and urged patriotic commitment from parastatal employees, assuring that no jobs would be lost under full devolution.