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{
"id": 1562202,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562202/?format=api",
"text_counter": 378,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr Davis Chirchir",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker and Hon. Members of the National Assembly, for inviting me to clarify this long- standing issue that we need to resolve quickly. The Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) is an Appropriation-in-Aid levy that we use to maintain our roads. When withheld, as it is today, through the court ruling, it hurts us in terms of development for the country. More importantly, at a time like this, when we have experienced rains and a number of our roads are impassable. We are withholding Ksh10.5 billion, an amount that could have gone a long way to maintain our roads. Unless we resolve this challenge, we could continue withholding even in 2025/2026, which is not good for the challenged Levy. Allow me to give a brief overview of the situation on the RMLF and where we are today on the amount that is being withheld due to the High Court ruling in Nairobi Case No.HCC HRPET/E423 of 2024, which issued an interim conservatory Order on 19th August 2024, directing the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) to freeze and withhold RMLF funds collected in the year 2024 to the extent of Ksh10,522,211,858, and to be allocated to county governments…, to be withheld - in this context, the whole sentence has to be read. In compliance with the Court Order, to date, the Ministry has withheld that amount of RMLF allocation to Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) for the Financial Year 2024/2025. The amount withheld today on account of both KeRRA and KURA totals Ksh7,488,061,224; of which, that to KeRRA is Ksh5.37 billion, and that to KURA is Ksh2.51 billion, making a total of Ksh7.89 billion. Of course, it will build up because RMLF is collected monthly, or even twice or three times every month. We collect from every cargo of petroleum product that docks in Mombasa. We have withheld Ksh7.89 billion. As we progress towards the end of the year, we expect to withhold the Ksh10.5 billion, as given in the conservatory order that has been given. The Ministry shall release the withheld funds upon determination of the Petition before the High Court. We have proposed to Hon. Members to walk through an alternative mediation mechanism so that we can unlock this challenge and get this money to work for us. At the moment, we are working for the money. The money is ‘sitting’ there instead of allowing it to work for us, yet we are doing so much work to get it. In the annual public roads programme for the Financial Year 2024, KeRRA had planned to maintain a total of 22,175 kilometres of road network while KURA had planned to maintain a total of 2,990 kilometres through various interventions within the urban towns. Hon. Members, what measures are we truly taking to unlock this challenge and ensure that we do not suspend work? When we received the conservatory court order, KeRRA and KURA were in the process of awarding contracts for roads to contractors who had successfully gone through the bidding process. Because of that order and the need to adhere to the rule of law, we subjected all the road programmes in the constituencies to a multi-year programme to avoid halting work on those roads, even though the available funds were inadequate. We hope to resolve this challenge during the course of the year. We have subjected all the tenders to a multi-year programme. We have awarded the contracts, and the sooner we resolve this impulse, the sooner we will unlock and complete the programmes within the year. If we cannot do so, it would be unfortunate, but it is in the interest of the country at large. As Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, I have escalated this issue for high-level mediation to ensure that we resolve this challenge and restore our roads to their previous condition. Right now, we are experiencing long rains, which are impacting economic activities because products are not reaching the markets. If I drill down to the specific details, the deficit faced by KeRRA due to lack of funds will significantly affect rural roads. To be more specific, allow me to just read so that it can be a more structured statement. Any deficit that arises from lack of funds will be treated as a The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}