(RMLF)
Introduction
Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) is specially provided for the management of the entire road network in all parts of the country. The fund was established in 1993 by an Act of Parliament i.e. Road Maintenance Levy Fund Act; 1993, in which proceeds from fuel levy are generated and paid into Kenya Roads Board Fund.
Fuel levy is a charge on petroleum products (petrol and diesel) which was introduced in 1993 through an Act of Parliament. The proceeds of the levy are to be applied to road maintenance. The fuel levy is collected by Kenya Revenue Authority on behalf of KRB and is managed by KRB for road maintenance. – The current charge is Kshs. 9/Litre of petrol or diesel it was adjusted from Kshs. 5.80 to 9.00 per litre of petrol & diesel in June 2006.
Other sources of funds for road maintenance are the Transit toll collections which grew from Kshs. 200 Million to Kshs. 300 Million per annum. The Transit Tolls are now channeled through KRB. The Coffee Cess has also been utilized for Road maintenance with collections rising to Kshs. 40 million during the last financial year. Other sources mainly interest on funds not immediately usable for road works have also yielded Kshs. 95 Million in the past financial year.
The Kenya Roads Board was created in 1999 by an Act of Parliament to oversee the Road Maintenance Levy Funds. The primary objective and purpose for which the Board is established is to oversee the road network in Kenya and thereby coordinate its development, rehabilitation and maintenance and to be the principal adviser to the government in all matters related to maintenance of roads.
The Kenya Roads Board is supposed to recommend to the government appropriate levels of road user charges, fines, penalties, levies or any sums required to be collected under the Road Maintenance Levy Fund and paid into the Kenya Roads Board Fund and recommend such periodic reviews of the fuel levy as are necessary for the purposes of the fund and other potential sources of revenue for the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads.
Composition of Kenya Roads Board
The Kenya Roads Board which controls Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) shall consist of:-
1. A chairman to be appointed by the president.
2. The Executive Director whose position shall be filled through public advertisement.
3. The Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries of Roads, Finance, Local authorities, regional co-operation and transport. In their absence, their designated alternate, not being below the level of Deputy Secretary.
4. Eight other members’ comprising representatives of each of the following organizations and appointed by the minister from amongst three persons nominated by each of the organizations.
- The Institution of Engineers of Kenya
- The Automobile Association of Kenya
- The National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- The lnstitute of Surveyors of Kenya.
- The Kenya National Farmers Union
- The Kenya Association of Tour operators
- The lnstitute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.
- The Kenya Transport Association.
Mode of Operation
Kenya Roads Board (KRB) recognizes the need to identify funds needed to undertake the existing backlog of periodic maintenance and rehabilitation to bring the entire roads network into a maintenance condition in order to effectively manage it.
The Kenya Roads Act was operationalized in 2007 giving rise to the formation of three new roads authorities that is, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) manages and maintains all roads of class A, B and C. The Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) develops and maintains roads of class D and others such as rural and small town roads, special-purpose roads and unclassified roads. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) manages and maintains all road works on urban roads in cities and major municipalities.
Ms. Hannah Waitherero Mureithi chairs the Kenya National Highways Authority; Dr. Eng. Kinyua Mwea chairs the board of Kenya Urban Roads Authority while Eng. Protus Murunga chairs the board of Kenya Rural Roads Authority.
ROAD NETWORK CLASSIFICATION
Roads are the primary communication links to all sectors of the economy and the population. It is widely recognized that an efficient road infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic and social development.
Roads are at present referred to by a wide range of names and descriptions – National, Main, Trunk, District, City, Rural, Local and Access etc. However, roads can be broadly categorized according to the Authority primarily responsible for their management as national, district, urban and special purpose roads.
National Roads are the main highways of the classified road network comprising Class A, B, C roads and are managed by the Roads Department of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works.
These roads provide mobility in a national context and the traffic on these roads is usually associated with longer travel distances. Hence design provisions for these roads allow for relatively higher speeds and minimal interference with through traffic i.e. restricted access. Further classification of roads is based on the functionality of different elements as defined below:
| Class A | these are international trunk roads linking international boundaries or terminating at international ports e.g. Malaba-Nairobi-Mombasa Road. |
| Class B | these are national trunk roads linking provincial headquarters and centres of national importance. |
| Class C | these are primary roads linking district headquarters to each other or to higher class roads |
| District Roads comprise Class D, E and other unclassified rural roads (excluding urban roads) and are managed by the District Roads Committees (DRCs). These roads primarily serve local traffic. The design speeds are usually lower while access control is more relaxed than for the Trunk roads. Further classification of roads is based on the functionality of different elements as defined below: |
|
| Class D | Secondary roads linking locally important centres to each other or to higher class roads |
| Class E | Minor roads linking minor centres |
| Class F | Special purpose roads including those for tourist, township, agriculture and strategic purposes. |
The other unclassified rural roads are managed by either DRCs or County Councils.
Urban Roads:
Urban roads are those falling within the urban areas and administered by City, Municipal and Town Councils. Urban roads primarily serve local traffic and are usually associated with shorter travel distances and lower design speeds. Urban roads are classified as follows:
Adopted streets are public roads that conform to Cap 462 (Street Adoptions Act) and are administered by the area Municipal Councils.
Non-adopted streets are public roads which do not conform to Cap 462.
Generally speaking, urban roads carry higher traffic volumes than rural roads and hence are required to provide a higher level of service. This entails incorporation of features such as multi-lane roads (dual carriageways), higher capacity junctions (traffic lights, fly overs, interchanges). Urban road also traverse heavy built up with larger populations and hence require facilities for non-motorized traffic (cycle tracks, footpaths) and other pedestrian friendly features such as kerbs, underground drainage and street lighting. As a result, urban roads are usually more expensive to construct and maintain than rural roads.
Special Purpose Roads
These include roads falling within National Parks and Game Reserves, Forest and security roads and are managed by various government agencies such as Kenya Wildlife Services, Forest Department.
Road Inventory
The size of Kenya’s Road Network is estimated at 177,500km comprising 63,000km classified roads and 114,500km of unclassified roads. The road network is administered by the various government departments as shown below:
| Classification of roads | ||
| Classification | Administering Agency | Network Length (Km) |
| National Roads (Class A, B, C) | Roads Department | 14,000 |
| District Roads: | District Roads Committees | 49,000 |
| Unclassified rural roads | County Councils | 100,000 |
| Urban Roads | City and Municipal Councils | 14,500 |
| Special Roads: | 9,000 | |
| Park roads | 8,000 | |
| Total | 177,500 |
| ROAD NETWORK | |||||
| Table A – Classified Road Network | |||||
| ROAD NETWORK AND ADMINISTERING AGENCY | Bitumen | Gravel | Earth | Total | % |
| Trunk road network (Class A, B, C)Roads Department of Ministry of Roads and Public Works | |||||
| International Trunk Roads-A | 2,886 | 717 | 152 | 3,755 | 6% |
| National Trunk Roads-B | 1,433 | 842 | 524 | 2,799 | 4% |
| Primary Roads-C | 2,487 | 3,209 | 1,972 | 7,668 | 12% |
| Rural Road network (Class D, E and others) | |||||
| District Roads Committees | |||||
| Secondary Roads-D | 1,167 | 6,484 | 3,565 | 11,216 | 18% |
| Minor Roads-E | 751 | 7,206 | 18,592 | 26,549 | 42% |
| Special Purpose Roads | 214 | 8,724 |
2,366 |
11,304 | 18% |
| Totals | 8,936 | 27,182 | 27,171 | 63,291 | 100% |
| % | 14% | 43% | 43% | 100% |
| Table B: Unclassified Road Network | |||
| ROAD NETWORK AND ADMINISTERING AGENCY | ROAD TYPE | KMS | % |
| Urban Road Network | |||
| Municipal Authorities (City and Municipal Councils) | Adopted urban streets | 7,000 | 5.2% |
| Other Unclassified Roads | |||
| County Councils | Rural roads and tracks | 110,000 | 82.2% |
| Kenya Wildlife Service | Roads in National Parks Roads | 6,000 | |
| Roads in National Reserves (contracted from Local Authorities) | 2,800 | 6.6% | |
| Forest Department | Forest roads | 8,800 | 6.0% |
| Subtotal | |||
| Total unclassified road network | 133,800 | 100% |
[1] MoRPW, Road Design Manual, Part 1 – Geometric Design of Rural Roads, Jan 1979
[2] Data to be undated on completion of the ongoing Road Inventory and Condition survey.
[3] Traffic Act, Cap 403, 12th Schedule
[4] Source: Ministry of Roads and Public Works
[5] Date based on 1995 statistics, to be updated once the ongoing Road Inventory and
Condition Survey for the classified network is completed.
Source – KRB website http://www.krb.go.ke
Depending on where works are located, complaints can be reported as follows: – Report to the Ministry of Roads & Public Works, District Roads Engineer or the Chairman of the District Roads Committee or even the District Commissioner or District Officer. Municipality – the Mayor, Town clerk or the councillors or KRB.
The Kenya Roads Act has mandated KRB to determine financial resources from the Fund or from any other source based on a 5 – year Road Investment Programme. The monies from the Fund are to be allocated as follows:
| % OF FUND | RECIPIENT | ADMINISTERED BY: |
| 20% | Constituencies | Rural Roads Authority |
| 12% | Districts (equitably) | Rural Roads Authority |
| 40% | National Roads | National Highways Authority |
| 15% | Urban Roads | Urban Roads Authority |
| 1% | National Park/reserves roads | Kenya Wildlife Service |
| 2% | KRB recurrent expenditure | KRB |
| 10% | Allocated annually based on a work plan derived from Road Investment Programme | Roads Authoritie |
| KRB Fund 2007/08 | |
| RECIPIENT |
Released as at 30th June 2008 |
|
Kenya Roads Board |
336,892,781 |
|
City Council of Nairobi |
126,381,279 |
| ABC Roads (Roads Department, Ministry of Roads) |
9,932,190,676 |
| Transit Toll |
270,000,000 |
|
District Roads (Class D,E, & Others) |
1,151,904,061 |
| DRC Equitable |
1,859,916,174 |
| DRC Equitable (Emergency) |
60,000,000 |
| Constituencies | 2,520,000,000 |
| Kenya Wildlife Service | 84,000,000 |
| Ministry of Local Government(Urban Roads) | 861,012,675 |
| Constituencies (Emergency) |
185,000,000 |
|
Coffee Cess |
10,264,720 |
|
TOTAL |
17,397,562,366 |
Source – KRB website http://www.krb.go.ke
| More
For more details, Contact:
Tel: +254 20 4980 000, +254 20 2722865/6/8 or +254 733 334422
P.O. BOX 73718 – 00200
3rd Floor Kenya Re Towers, Off Ragati Rd, UpperHill Nairobi
E-mail: roadsboard@kroadsboard.go.ke
