National Assembly Committee approves return of toll fees on Kenyan roads

This is after the National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation approved the Public Finance Management (National Road Toll Fund) Regulations 2021.

The committee has asked MPs to consider the bill and pass it in order to pave way for the creation of a National Road Toll Fund.

A general view taken on March 26, 2015 in Nairobi shows the Kenyan parliament, as President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses two Houses the Senate and the National Assembly. President Kenyatta's speech comes against the backdrop of rising corruption and insecurity in the country. AFP PHOTO/SIMON MAINA (Photo credit should read SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images) Pulse Live Kenya

The bill, which will create the National Roads Toll Fund, aims to put into effect the Public Roads Toll Act, Cap 407, which governs the application of toll levies on important national highways.

The legislation gives the Transport Cabinet Secretary the authority to declare any road or section of a road as a toll road, including a bridge or tunnel on a public route.

According to the National Treasury, the introduction of toll fees is intended for roads that have high vehicle traffic or high social and environmental impact.

“The decision on whether and how to toll a road will be independent of decisions on how to finance, build, operate and maintain that road.

“This means that both new (green-field) and existing roads (brownfields) can be subject to tolling programmes, always providing that these are demonstrated to be both economically and financially feasible and their social and environmental impacts are shown to be sustainable,” Treasury wrote to Parliament.

Treasury building in Nairobi Treasury invites public participation on Criminal Assets Recovery Fund proposal Pulse Live Kenya

The Nairobi-Nakuru road, Nairobi-Mombasa road, Nairobi-Thika road, and Nairobi's Southern Bypass are among the highways where motorists may soon start paying if the regulations are passed by a committee of the whole house.

Roads such as Jogoo, Lang'ata, and Ngong in Nairobi may also be targeted.

Currently, only the Nairobi Expressway has been officially categorised as a toll road.

The government had announced that the road would be opened in March 2022 but the finishing touches seem to be taking longer than anticipated.

Motorists who use the Nairobi Expressway will be paying between Sh100 and Sh1,550, depending on the size of their vehicles and the distance travelled.

The rates are based on the dollar trading at Sh103.79 and will be reassessed based on inflation and the shilling-to-dollar exchange rate, which is presently at Sh114.13.

Road tolls were first implemented in Kenya in the late 1980s, but they were phased out in the mid-1990s in favour of the Roads Maintenance Levy, which was introduced to minimise corruption at toll stations. For petrol and diesel, the levy is currently Sh18 per litre.