The Court of Appeal has issued new temporary orders in the ongoing legal battle over the Road Maintenance Fuel Levy (RMLF), giving county governments the authority to manage the funds.
This comes as a major development in the fight between counties and the national government over who controls money meant for maintaining roads.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal suspended an earlier High Court ruling that had stopped counties from receiving these funds. The appellate court stated that the suspension will be valid for 12 months, during which time any appeals can be filed and heard.
“After carefully reviewing all the key factors in this matter, we are convinced that the applicants have made a strong case,” the Court of Appeal declared.
“We therefore grant temporary conservatory orders to halt the implementation of the High Court’s judgment—specifically orders (a), (b), (c), and (d)—for one year, to allow time for the appeal to proceed,” the judges stated.
The ruling was delivered by Justices Daniel Musinga, George Odunga, and Hellen Nyamweya. It followed an earlier ruling by High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi, which had nullified a decision made by the National Assembly on September 28, 2023.
That decision had excluded counties from receiving the fuel levy funds for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 financial years.
Additionally, the High Court had struck down another resolution made on August 13, 2024, where the National Assembly had removed counties as recipients of more than Ksh10 billion in conditional grants from the Road Maintenance Fund in the 2024/25 fiscal year.
Thanks to the Court of Appeal’s ruling, the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) was directed to release over Ksh10.5 billion to county governments by June 30. In response, KRB released Ksh3.68 billion—roughly 35% of the total amount—for county road maintenance.
The disagreement between Members of Parliament (MPs) and county governments started when MPs decided to redirect RMLF funds away from KRB and towards the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA). According to the law, the RMLF funds—raised through fuel charges—are managed by KRB, which allocates a portion directly to counties, while the rest is assigned to KeRRA for constituency-level road projects.
However, MPs insisted that counties should fund road construction and maintenance using their own internal revenues, rather than relying on the RMLF. Governors across the country opposed this move, arguing that it was based on false claims and political mischief.
They emphasized that ever since the introduction of devolution, counties have consistently received money from the levy through the Kenya Roads Board.
The Road Maintenance Fuel Levy, which was created through an Act of Parliament in 1993, plays a vital role in financing the repair and development of roads across Kenya. It helps ensure that road networks are safe, functional, and well-maintained nationwide.
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