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Billions in Road Funds Spark Nationwide Tug-of-War
The fight over who controls Kenya’s road maintenance billions has reached fever pitch. At the center is the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), collected through fuel levies and traditionally handled by national road agencies.
Governors are now demanding their cut, claiming they’re constitutionally mandated to manage local infrastructure. President William Ruto, however, says no—insisting the national government is better positioned to ensure efficiency, citing repeated failures by counties to construct durable roads.
His administration warns that devolution of the RMLF could lead to fragmented infrastructure standards, budget mismanagement, and duplication of projects.
Governors Demand Control, Say Constitution Is on Their Side
County bosses aren’t backing down. Through the Council of Governors (CoG), they argue that excluding them from the RMLF undermines the spirit of devolution entrenched in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa is leading the charge, calling for the National Assembly to pass legislation granting counties direct access to road maintenance money. They claim the current model—where counties must rely on national agencies like KeRRA and KURA—is inefficient and dismissive of local realities. To them, road maintenance is a service delivery function, not a national oversight responsibility.
National Government Says Counties Lack Technical Capacity
President Ruto has doubled down on the argument that centralizing road funds is essential for strategic development. Speaking recently in Narok, he criticized counties for building short stretches of murram roads that wash away in the rainy season, calling it a waste of resources.
National agencies, he insists, have the equipment, technical personnel, and project management capacity to deliver quality roads. According to Ruto, allowing all 47 counties to independently control road funds would create a patchwork of poorly built infrastructure with no national cohesion.
Legal Threats Mount as Counties Push for Parliamentary Action
The standoff has now moved into the legal and legislative arena. Governors have threatened to sue Parliament over its failure to allocate RMLF funds directly to counties. They claim the national government’s stance is unconstitutional and violates the principles of equitable sharing of national revenue.
Some lawmakers have sided with the counties, but others fear devolving the fund could open the floodgates to corruption and misappropriation. Meanwhile, roads in several counties remain in poor shape, with stalled projects and neglected repairs—adding pressure from the public for swift resolution.
A National Dialogue Proposed, But No End in Sight
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called for a consultative forum involving governors, the Ministry of Transport, and lawmakers to negotiate a way forward. But with both sides entrenched—one arguing for efficiency and the other for constitutional rights—the outcome remains uncertain.
A middle-ground proposal has surfaced: allow counties to manage a fixed percentage of RMLF under national oversight. Still, this would require legal changes and political goodwill that are currently lacking. For now, Kenyans must navigate crumbling roads while their leaders argue over who should fix them.
Crumbling Roads, Stalled Growth, and Public Frustration
While politicians argue, everyday Kenyans bear the cost. Rural farmers can’t get produce to markets due to unusable roads. In urban areas, traffic jams from pothole-ridden streets cost businesses hours in lost productivity.
Quality roads are essential not just for movement, but for economic growth, access to healthcare, education, and trade. The current gridlock over RMLF control is more than a political dispute—it’s a crisis affecting millions. The longer it drags, the deeper the damage to Kenya’s development trajectory.
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