The High Court has blocked the government from increasing the Road Maintenance Levy pending the hearing of a petition filed by a Mombasa resident.
The Road Maintenance Levy Fund (Imposition of Levy) Order, 2024 came into effect on July 15 and increased the levy on fuel from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre.
Mr George Odhiambo Juma, a taxi driver, argued that the levy was imposed without meaningful public participation.
“That pending the hearing of the Notice of Motion dated 2nd August 2024 inter-partes, a conservatory order is hereby issued, restraining the respondents, either jointly and or severally, whether by themselves, their officers, agents, employees or other person or entity acting under the respondents' instructions, from implementing and enforcing the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (Imposition) Order 2024,” Justice Gregory Mutai said.
The judge ordered that the case be heard on August 28 before presiding judge Olga Sewe.
Mr Odhiambo said the government had on June 25 published a notice calling for public participation in the review of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund Order, 2016.
The notice by the Ministry of Roads and Transport invited members of the public and stakeholders to various public participation exercises scheduled for July 8, 2024 in 10 selected regions across the country.
Mr Odhiambo said public participation took place on July 8, but it was a "mirage" because there was no meaningful public participation.
“The ten public participation centres or venues were very few and covered wide catchment areas. That impeded public participation because many Kenyans could not afford to travel to those selected and designated centres to give their views,” he said.
He added that the government only allocated one day for the exercise, which was not enough and he, for example, could not participate because he was transporting his passengers.
“If the respondents had scheduled more days for public participation, I would have had a chance to give my views and so would many Kenyans,” he said.
Mr Odhiambo said many Kenyans were currently going through difficult economic times and it was unfair to increase the levy.
He said the levy imposed by the government was unreasonable in the harsh “economic times and not in touch with the reality on the ground, a fact which the respondents are aware of but ignored”.
He said former Roads Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen (now CS for Sport) had promised that the government would take a decision in line with the recommendations of the public, who were against an increase in the fuel levy.
In a statement, Mr Murkomen said the country was facing a Sh78 billion road maintenance deficit in the current financial year alone. He said with the trend, the gap was projected to rise to Sh315 billion by the 2028/2029 financial year.
Mr Odhiambo said the government had not sensitised the public on the rate, rationale and implications of the proposed increase.
“The call for the public to submit views and memoranda was not useful because the public remained largely ignorant of the process. For instance, the petitioner was not made aware of why there was a need to increase the levy,” he said.
