CS Murkomen Issues An Official Statement On The Controversial Road Maintenance Levy

CS Murkomen Issues An Official Statement On The Controversial Road Maintenance Levy

CS Murkomen Issues An Official Statement On The Controversial Road Maintenance Levy amid uproar on the high cost of living and withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.

The Statement Read;

I thank Kenyans across the country for turning up in large numbers to give their views on the maintenance of our roads.

It is worth noting that there has been a considerable increase in the country’s road network from 166,451km in 2016 to the current 239,122km which require regular maintenance from the Ksh18 provided for by the Road Maintenance Levy that has been in place for the last eight years.

As a country, we are grappling with a maintenance deficit of Sh78 billion this financial year alone. With the current trend, it is projected that by Financial Year 2028/2029 this financing gap will rise to Sh315 billion.

Most of these abandoned roads are under the Low Volume Seal programme which have never been maintained in the last 10 years and are on the verge of being wiped away altogether. The Roads Maintenance Levy Review is, therefore, intended to fill this gap.

From the views we have received, many Kenyans are worried that an increase in the levy will result in a rise in the cost of living.

With this in mind, we will analyse the reports received on email and social media platforms as well as the submissions made today, and come up with a decision that corresponds with the recommendations from the public.

We will explore ways of getting the resources we need to maintain roads, as expressed by Kenyans in their numbers, without raising the cost of living through an increase in petroleum prices.

As suggested by Kenyans, we will only make this decision when we are certain that any revenue measures adopted will not result in a rise in the cost of living.