The Ministry of Roads and Transport is mulling discounts to motorists as it seeks to toll more new and improved roads to finance maintenance, according to a draft road tolling policy currently out for public review.
- •Maintaining Kenya’s current road network needs about KShs 253.5 billion annually, while the estimated Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) collection for FY 2024/2025 is KShs 100 billion.
- •There’s already an outstanding maintenance backlog estimated at KShs 500 billion, worsened by the recent El-nino rains and the current extreme floods.
- •According to the Draft Road Tolling Policy 2025, high occupancy private vehicles, electric cars and frequent users will be eligible.
“Local vehicles forced to pass a Toll Charging Point on a Toll Road in order to make a short local journey may be granted discounts to enable them to pay Toll Tariffs in proportion to their frequent use,” according to the draft.
Tolls will be introduced on roads which require user charges to be financially viable and are newly constructed, have been improved relative to their previous standard are of a higher quality than untolled roads-for example, offering multiple lanes or heightened safety modifications.
The draft proposes amending several laws, including the Insurance (Motor Vehicles Third Party Risks) Act to create a mandatory settlement of outstanding tolls and penalties before the mandatory motor insurance policy is issued, and the NTSA Act to give NTSA the power to deny the provision of services to vehicle owners with outstanding tolls and related penalties.
In August 2024, the Kenya National Highways Authority’s (KenHA) stated that Thika Superhighway, Kenol-Sagana-Marua Road, and the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway are potential candidates for tolling. Others include the Nairobi Southern bypass, Mombasa Southern Bypass, and the newly-completed Dongo Kundu Bypass.
