Economy

Proportion of good roads rises to 60pc

ROAD

Motorists on Thika Road. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The proportion of roads in good condition increased to 60 percent in the financial year 2020/21 up from 40 percent in the year 2018/19, a report by the Kenya Roads Board has said.

The Value for Money Audit Report on Road Maintenance Levy Fund-financed roads report shows that roads in fair and poor condition reduced from 37 percent and 23 percent to 22 percent and 18 percent respectively.

The audit covered Road Maintenance Levy Fund programmes by Kenya National Highway Authority, Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, Kenya Wildlife Service and county governments.

It sought to assess the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of Road Maintenance Levy Fund programmes in the country.

It further revealed that for every shilling spent from Road Maintenance Levy Fund to maintain roads, the country gets Sh14.63 while for every Sh100 million spent, the country gets Sh1.46 billion.

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“It is imperative for the board to establish whether value for money is achieved in programmes funded by RMLF. To do so, the board recognised that the technical, financial, performance and procurement audits undertaken by the board are an integral part of the value for money audits, which are necessary and crucial,” said KRB director-general Rashid Mohamed on Wednesday.

The study sampled 72 roads spread across the country that are contained in the Annual Public Roads Programme (ARP) or maintenance in all the road agencies and the county governments for three years from the financial year 2018/19 to 2020/21. The 72 roads were assessed for economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity.

Economy was achieved for 62 percent of roads and signifies that the costs of resources used for projects in terms of certified works were less than the total allocated resources in APRP.

Efficiency on road maintenance was achieved for 57 percent where measured works did not exceed the contracted works, equally what was paid in terms of certified works was within the contract sum.

Completed works were in good condition. In addition, the projects were completed within time and cost devoid of extensions and variations.

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Effectiveness was achieved for 42 percent of the projects and 37 percent of the projects were assessed as adequate.

The analysis further showed that scoping of works was adequate as activities were implemented as planned. There was good consideration of road safety.

Equity was achieved for 27 percent of the sampled roads and was assessed adequately for 36 percent of the sampled projects.

This was largely because construction materials were being sourced locally, and contracts incorporated cross-cutting issues, which include HIV/AIDS education and environmental protection.

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