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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Why you may not escape paying toll fees on major roads and highways

Business

By Macharia Kamau | Feb 21, 2025

**Toll stations on Nairobi Expressway along Mombasa road, Nairobi.** [File, Standard]

Kenyans might be compelled to pay toll fees on major roads and highways in future as the government pushes proposals that require motorists to pay for the use of certain roads. This will also not require it to provide toll-free alternatives.

The new proposals are contained in the draft Road Tolling Policy through which the government is paving the way for the reintroduction of toll roads. This could push up transportation costs for both industries and individual motorists.

The Ministry of Transport and Roads argues this is the only viable option to continue investing in new roads and boost their maintenance.

This will be another hit for consumers who have been grappling with the high cost of transport. It is also against the recent hike in the road maintenance levy last year, which the ministry increased to Sh25 per litre of diesel and super petrol from Sh18, but still says is inadequate to meet the road maintenance costs.

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“It will not be mandatory for the government to provide a dedicated toll-free alternative, but appropriate measures will be taken to guarantee affordability such as subsidies and discounts,” said Eng Kefa Seda, the chairperson of a technical working group on the draft policy during a forum on the draft policy in Nairobi.

This will see tolled roads continue to register high traffic and in turn, generate revenues for private sector players that will have pumped in money for construction or upgrade of roads.

Failure to offer toll-free alternatives is likely to generate heat when the draft policy is subjected to public participation.

The Transport Ministry will conduct public participation over the next one month, starting Monday, February 24, 2025. During this phase, Kenyans will have the opportunity to give their views on the policy, suggesting additions to the documents and even removing clauses that they might deem unacceptable.

During Thursday’s forum, Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the candidate roads for tolling include newly constructed roads as well as old roads that may have had significant upgrades.

He noted that the resources available to the government currently are not adequate for constructing new roads and also maintaining the existing network. The government says it needs Sh5.15 trillion to enhance connectivity and maintain the country’s road network of 164,000 kilometres but expects to have only about Sh1.096 trillion available.

“Why should we toll our roads when we have the road maintenance levy? The levy only funds the maintenance of some roads that is insignificant for the entire network,” said Chirchir during a forum with local pension funds that are expected to invest in financing road construction and maintenance of roads and recoup investments through tolls.

“The estimates for the 2024/25 financial year indicate that about Sh100 billion was released while the ideal requirement for maintaining the entire roads system stands at Sh253 billion… highlighting a significant funding gap and the urgent need to identify additional sources for funding planned new roads.

He added that with financial constraints on the exchequer, proceeds from the road maintenance levy alone cannot sustain the maintenance of the road network in the long term.

Eng Seda in his presentation on the tolling policy noted that traffic demand on key corridors in Kenya has exceeded current capacity.

The result is that there is a high number of incidents and accidents and roads that result in over 4,000 road fatalities recorded on Kenyan roads. He noted that few accidents and deaths are recorded when road quality improves.

“The enhancement of road carrying capacities has been shown to significantly reduce road accidents. For example, since the expansion of the Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway, the number of road accidents has significantly reduced,” said Seda, adding that dilapidated roads have also slowed down in transportation of people and cargo, which in the long run tends to be costly.

“On average, trucks in East Africa can only cover between 5,000 and 7,500 kilometres per month compared to the international best practice of 12,000 kilometres per truck per month… improvements in road infrastructure will double travel speeds, increase trip frequency and significantly reduce costs.”

The Transport Ministry has in the past said it planned to toll key roads such as the Thika Road and the Southern Bypass, which it has noted are among those that are ripe for the pay-to-use model.

The two roads are essential to movement in the city, both for residents’ daily commutes as well as traffic passing through the city.

Thika Road has been key for many people who commute to work daily in the city but live in areas such as Kiambu and Thika. The Southern Bypass on the other hand has been key in decongesting Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way, diverting trucks and traffic from Nairobi's Central Business District.

The successful implementation of the Nairobi Expressway as the first major public-private partnership project for the transport sector and its tolling has seemingly emboldened the government, which sees it as ushering in an era where it may no longer need to heavily borrow for mega infrastructure projects.

The government is also readying for the implementation of the Nairobi-Mombasa expressway using a similar model where US firm Everstrong will raise capital, design and construct it. It will then charge road users fees to recoup investments. The firm has a 30-year concession during which it will construct and operate the roads.

The Rironi-Mau Summit is also set to be built under a similar model. It had been concessioned to a French consortium but this was later cancelled with the government now appearing to lean towards China.

While PPP has in the past been seen as a means to reduce reliance on costly debt, it remained elusive with investors giving Kenya a wide berth but now appears to be getting some traction.

Kenyan motorists used to pay tolls to use such roads as the Mombasa Road, which was tolled at Athi River and Thika Road near Ruiru Town but these were abolished in 1999.