Kenyan roads still suffer from poor infrastructure, floods, and heavy traffic. The government allocates funds for the development of the transport network to facilitate the movement of goods and masses, but the roads particularly those in the rural areas are yet to be upgraded into the all-weather types of roads. With the floods wreaking havoc all over, these seasonal roads become impassable and transport becomes a mess.
Today the Kenya Roads Board (Amendment) Bill 2019, has been assented into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The signed Bill restructures the mandate and operations of the Kenya Roads Board and other agencies in the roads sector by, among other changes, outlining how funds including exchequer resources will be utilized in the construction and maintenance of the county’s roads.
One of the reforms outlined in the new law is setting the limit of the money allocated to rural roads at 10 percent of the funds appropriated by Parliament annually. The new law also caps administrative expenditure on rural roads in areas such as research, standardization, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation to 18 percent of the total allocation. The act also empowers the Kenya Roads Board to borrow and to set aside funds for repayment of loans and other facilities taken for purposes of road maintenance, development, and rehabilitation.
Present during the signing of the Bill were the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Attorney General Paul Kihara, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale.
