EDITORIAL: Provide alternative roads

The Kenya National Highways Authority’s plan to expand the key Nairobi-Nakuru Mau Summit road using a public private partnership model while laudable is fraught with challenges. 

It is justifiable that the government is seeking to reduce congestion on one of the most important roads in the region through a toll road. Already, 10 foreign firms have expressed strong interest in building the road.

Globally, road charges are an acceptable means of reducing congestion and improving the driving experience for motorists.

But the pay-as-you-drive scheme should not be a money-making exercise that penalises hard-pressed drivers without offering a way out.

The architecture of the road should offer an alternative route that motorists who do not wish to pay the toll charges can use, particularly those who constantly ply the route, perhaps between towns that are not far apart along the highway.

The government must be keenly aware that without the alternative routes, the toll plan could stall in the face of legal challenges.

For one, the Constitution assures Kenyans of the rights such as the right to free movement – which must be facilitated through the provision of public roads built with taxes.

Besides, it could also be argued — as has happened in other jurisdictions — that charging one to use one roads while others move free is discriminatory.

Ideally, all roads built by the government must be free, given that Kenyans pay for their building and maintenance though their taxes, including the Roads Maintenance Levy. The exception comes in the case where an entirely new road has been built using private funds.