MPs shield toll collections from public scrutiny ahead of pay-for-use roads
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 0:01
By EDWIN OKOTH
Members of the National Assembly in session.
FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya Roads Board (KRB) is set to lose its control of toll collections even as the country prepares to open its pay-for-use roads next month.
Under the recommendation on Finance Bill 2020 tabled by the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, the fund collected in the various weigh bridges will now be managed separately under the National Roads Toll Fund with the private sector set to be players in its collection.
Under the Finance Bill 2020, the deals signed between private sector players and the government to collect tolls will also not require parliamentary approval in what may set up road users for expensive tolls not scrutinised by the public watchdogs.
There will be a public fund to be known as the national Roads Toll Fund that shall be established in accordance with Section 24 of the Public Finance Act 2012,” the MPs wrote in the Bill tabled before parliament last week.
