Governors lock horns with MPs over Road Maintenance Fund
The county bosses insisted that they should get the lion's share of the fund because the responsibility of constructing and maintaining the majority of the roads in the country falls on them.
The Council of Governors has accused the National Assembly of denying counties their rightful share of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).
In a written statement from Governor Ahmed Abdullahi who serves as the Council's Chairperson, the governors dismissed calls by some Members of Parliament for the legislators to take full control of the fund, arguing that counties bear the responsibility of maintaining most of the road networks in the country.
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"The unfortunate remarks made on the floor of the House are unpatriotic, in bad taste, and in complete ignorance of our constitutional underpinnings, which have assigned the road's function to both levels of government. The National Government has been assigned national trunk roads, whereas County Governments have been entrusted to manage county roads," read the statement in part.
The county bosses insisted that they should get the lion's share of the fund because the responsibility of constructing and maintaining the majority of the roads in the country falls on them.
They pointed to a 2024 survey by the Kenya Roads Board, which found that county governments had developed and maintained 5,400km of tarmacked roads, an increase from 4,200 km in 2018.
The report also highlighted that counties had gravelled more than 76,000km of roads, up from 49,000km in 2018.
"County governments manage 182,832 km out of 239,122 km of road in the country, yet they are being denied funds meant for maintenance. This blatant disregard for constitutional mandates is an attempt by the National Assembly to seize control over resources meant for the counties," they stated.
The governors' remarks come barely three weeks after the Senate clashed with the National Assembly, accusing MPs of deliberately stalling the passage of the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2024 which would see a percentage of the RMLF being disbursed to counties.
"The MPs are not satisfied with the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF). As such they are still dying to control RMLF. Objectively, that money should be left to the governors," noted Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale.
Similarly, Migori Senator Eddy Oketch criticised the National Assembly's actions as unconstitutional, arguing that MPs were intentionally sabotaging devolved functions.
The Council of Governors has warned that further delays in resolving the issue will hinder the implementation of critical development programs at the county level.
"It is our position that the National Assembly should focus on the review and enactment of legislations in the roads sector that conform and align with the Constitution 2010. These include amendments to the Roads Act, 2007 to align with the Cabinet resolution to merge KeRRA and KURA as the two state corporations are undertaking County functions," the statement concluded.
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