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{
"id": 1393921,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Question No.016"
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"id": 1393922,
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"text_counter": 77,
"type": "heading",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "PENDING BILLS OWED TO CONTRACTORS BY KURA AND KENHA"
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{
"id": 1393923,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393923/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Kathuri",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13590,
"legal_name": "Murungi Kathuri",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport the following Question. (a) Could the Cabinet Secretary provide a schedule of pending bills currently owed by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to contractors engaged in road construction projects across the country, clearly indicating the proportion that constitutes accumulated interest and penalties from delayed payments? (b) What occasioned the delay in settling bills due for payment by the two Government entities, resulting in the accumulation of avoidable interest and penalties that overshot the costs of the respective projects to untenable levels? (c) What measures has the Government put in place to ensure the timely settlement of bills as they fall due? Could the Cabinet Secretary provide a timeline for the settlement of the existing pending bills?"
},
{
"id": 1393924,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393924/?format=api",
"text_counter": 79,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Kathuri",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13590,
"legal_name": "Murungi Kathuri",
"slug": "murungi-kathuri"
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1393925,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393925/?format=api",
"text_counter": 80,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Kathuri",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13590,
"legal_name": "Murungi Kathuri",
"slug": "murungi-kathuri"
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"content": "(d) Could the Cabinet Secretary also explain mechanisms the Government has put in place to improve the quality of procurement and project management processes to mitigate against irregular award of tenders, inflation of project costs, and certification as complete, of projects that have not attained the requisite standards?"
},
{
"id": 1393926,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393926/?format=api",
"text_counter": 81,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Cabinet Secretary, you may respond."
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{
"id": 1393927,
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"text_counter": 82,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Murkomen",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 440,
"legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
"slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, because I see the road questions are fairly similar, whether it is in Meru County or Nandi County, in terms of, this road has not been done this; let me just make a very brief statement on the status of the roads in just three minutes. First, I noticed that five of the eight questions touch on road infrastructure and that reflects the importance that the distinguished Members of this House assign to this sector, which is a key enabler in so far as development is concerned. Given the high level of interest in the performance of this sector, which also has been witnessed faster and during 28 consultative meetings between the Ministry, the National Assembly, and the Senators from different counties, including Speakers of County Assemblies, let me give you a global overview of the status of the roads. My Ministry wishes to bring to the attention of this Senate two subjects. The first concerns road construction. Regarding road construction, the development vote that the national Government exchequer made available to support road projects in this financial year was Kshs63 billion. While this allocation is a significant amount, the Ministry will diligently ensure that the money is used very well. Notably, the pending bill on various projects as at 31st December, 2023 is Kshs162.4 billion. It may seem that with the budget allocation of 38 per cent of the pending bills before taking into account the certified value of new works to be undertaken in the course of the year, the projects are significantly under-resourced at the moment. The consequence of the road projects funding gap will have been well noted by Members of this House, who in their role as representatives of the people should be duly informed of the status of the road projects in their respective regions. Most projects funded under the development vote are progressing much slower than they ought to be. If we continue at this rate, we will complete those roads in 15 years. That is serious. As mentioned earlier, most projects have significant payment arrears that have built up since 2019/2020 Financial Year or earlier, hence, even when partial payments are made, construction does not resume immediately. In the last one-and-a-half years, global and macro-economic constraints did not allow sufficient fiscal headroom for the project funding gap to be addressed adequately. However, with the economic situation now stabilising and showing signs of a positive outlook, the Ministry is working closely with the National Treasury to ensure that the Government efforts to complete ongoing projects are expedited."
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"id": 1393928,
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"text_counter": 83,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Murkomen",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 440,
"legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
"slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1393929,
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"text_counter": 84,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Murkomen",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 440,
"legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
"slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
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"content": "You have heard the President making publicly his intention, including in meeting that we were together in Bomet, that the next financial year we should provide a budget allocation of over Kshs100 billion so that then we can quickly complete the pending bills. The second issue is road maintenance. The enabling legislations governing the resource of road maintenance such as the Road Maintenance Levy Fund Act, Kenya Roads Board Act and the Kenya Roads Act were enacted in 1993 and 2007 and served well their respective roles over the years. However, in the time since these pieces of legislation came into force, the Government has strongly prioritised upgrading to bitumen standards of rural roads that are largely under the purview of Kenya Rural Roads Authority. These roads reach deep into the countryside and provide the equivalent of last-mile connectivity for the road transport system. The challenge is that the resources for maintaining paved rural roads are not adequately provided for in the current allocation of road maintenance funds. It is an understatement to say not adequately provided for. They are not provided for. While the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) receives 32 per cent of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, little of this is prioritised for purpose of maintaining paved roads. While making this observation, allow me to note that my Ministry continues to appreciate the good work done on unpaved roads with the guidance of the Constituency Roads Committee, a participatory and responsive mechanism that ensures local pain points and bottlenecks receive adequate attention. The effect of the lack of designated funding for the maintenance of paved roads is that recently constructed rural roads, particularly about 5,100 kilometres under KeRRA lack the resources for maintaining them. Consequently, there is a real risk that in the absence of proper maintenance, the newly built roads will progressively deteriorate and some have already deteriorated and ultimately no longer serve their intended purpose. I am sure Members of this House, given the excellent information they have about road conditions in their areas, can provide some of the rural paved roads that need maintenance. There is a Rombo Road in Kajiado, there is a road in Laikipia; there is a road from Kuresoi to Silibwet; there is a road that we were with the Senate Majority Leader in his county from Chepseon to Maili Nne and many other places across the country. All these roads were done under low volume seal. Since the budget was not provided for maintenance, all those roads are deteriorating and no attention is given because the entire allocation to KeRRA is concentrating on the murram roads in the rural areas, and the structure that we have at the moment, all that allocation is going to those type of roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the situation with the road maintenance that we have at the moment is further complicated by the fact that the Fuel Levy has remained at Kshs18 per litre since 2016, a time when litre of a petrol cost was Kshs100. In the year 2024, the fuel levy is still at Kshs18 per litre, whereas a litre of petrol costs about Kshs200. The steady decline in the purchasing power of the fuel levy collection means that there is a growing backlog of maintenance activities that ought to"
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"text_counter": 85,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Murkomen",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 440,
"legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
"slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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