The proposed KSh8 per kilometre toll charge on the Rironi-Mau Summit Highway has raised questions among motorists, particularly those who say they already contribute to road maintenance through the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).
But Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Directorate Director General Kefa Seda says motorists will not be paying twice, arguing that toll charges are different from taxes.
In a response on Saturday, November 7, Seda said taxes are compulsory payments collected by the government, while toll fees are only paid by motorists who choose to use a particular road.
He explained that drivers who do not want to pay the toll can use alternative routes instead.
“Tax is a compulsory extraction enforceable by law, while a toll is a fee charged for consuming a road service,” Seda said.
“Therefore, tax is compulsory and applicable to the general public, while for tolls you only pay when you use the road and you can also avoid paying by using other alternative routes,” he added.
Seda also explained that a road must first be gazetted before it can officially be designated as a toll road.
Once that happens, he said, the road stops receiving money from the RMLF. The revenue collected through toll charges is then used to recover the money invested in the project and meet maintenance costs.
“For a road to be tolled, there has to be a gazettement. Once gazetted, it ceases to benefit from RMLF allocation, as the receivables from toll fees are deemed to be used to recover capital investment and maintenance costs,” he said.
His remarks followed concerns raised by a Kenyan who questioned why motorists should pay the proposed KSh8 per kilometre charge when they already contribute to the RMLF.
The toll rate was recently upheld by the PPP Committee, drawing criticism from the Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK), which had challenged the charges before the PPP Petition Committee.
COFEK wanted the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to release documents relating to the KSh200 billion project. These included the tolling plan, feasibility studies, procurement records and reports on public participation.
The consumer lobby also questioned how the proposed charges had been calculated, whether motorists would have affordable alternative routes and how financial risks linked to the project would be shared.
However, the petition was dismissed after the committee found that it had been filed outside the seven-day deadline set under the Public Private Partnerships Act.
The proposed tolling of the Rironi-Mau Summit Highway has therefore remained a point of concern for motorists, with the latest explanation from Seda focusing on the difference between road tolls and the Road Maintenance Levy Fund.