It will take 15 years to complete Sh700 billion road projects, says CS Chirchir

Ongoing construction of Kenol-Sagana-Marwa highway. [File, Standard]

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has said the outstanding commitments on contracted road projects amounts to about Sh700 billion.

Chirchir, who appeared before the Senate yesterday, said the current average annual government budget ceiling allocations for roads is Sh55 billion which means that the committed road projects would take around 15 years to be completed.

The CS, who was responding to questions by Senators on  why several road projects had not been completed, said the low annual net ceiling of Sh55 billion also results in a thin spread of allocation to projects.

“The total value of the public road assets countrywide has been established by the Road Sector Investment Programme to be Sh4 trillion, making it one of the biggest public investments in Kenya.

This massive investment in road assets, which has been built up painstakingly over the years, has to be diligently maintained, protected and preserved,” said Chirchir.

He told the Senate that the Road Maintenance Levy Fund was established in 1993 to provide resources for road maintenance and had since been adjusted from time to time in accordance with needs with the last adjustment done in 2016 when the fuel levy was set at Sh18 per litre.

Chirchir said that by 2024, an unsustainable financing gap had emerged between the cost of essential road maintenance and the resources collected from the fuel levy with the cost of essential road maintenance activities for national roads in the 2024/2025 financial year being Sh157 billion.

The Cabinet Secretary told the Senators, who had taken him to task over several stalled road projects, that the anticipated fuel levy collection for the same financial year is Sh79 billion, leaving a deficit of Sh78 billion.

“The causes and drivers of this maintenance funding gap are changes in the road network, macroeconomic factors and maintenance needs of the road network,” said Chirchir.

“Because of the mentioned funding gaps in road maintenance, my Ministry has not been able to perform all required maintenance. Indeed, in the financial year just ended, the road agencies for the first time ever, where forced to suspend award of a number of already tendered maintenance activities due to lack of budget,” he said.

The CS said a proposal for review of the Road Maintenance Levy by Sh7 from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre was formulated to partially fill the maintenance gap with public participation held to discuss the proposal for review of the fuel levy held.

Chirchir said many Kenyans were worried that an increase in the levy might result in a rise in the cost of living. He said the feedback from public participation was loud and clear.

He added: “I would not be exaggerating to say that the recent adjustment in the fuel levy rate was a critical, vital and urgent step without which the heavy investment of recent years in building new roads would ultimately prove to be largely in vain,” said Chirchir.

The Cabinet Secretary said the Ministry, through its road agencies, is actively undertaking real-time monitoring and mapping of infrastructure affected by the unusually heavy rains during the April/May 2024 period.