NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 12 – Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has warned Members of Parliament to cease the current row with devolved units over the control of the Sh10 billion Roads Maintenance Levy Fund saying the lawmakers have no constitutional mandate over the fund.
The fate of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) remains uncertain as Members of Parliament and governors clash over control of the monies meant for road repairs.
Speaking to mourners during the burial of George Oduor his aide on Saturday, Odinga insisted that e Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) should be domiciled under the devolved units saying the current framework is leading to inefficiencies.
“It doesn’t make sense that somebody is sitting in Nairobi is constructing roads in Mombasa town. Somebody sit in Nairobi and is constructing roads in Kisumu, which cannot be touched by the governors and government. That’s why it’s so inefficient,” he said.
MPs vowed to block any allocation unless governors withdraw a court case challenging its management. The standoff has escalated, with MPs insisting they will not pass the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill, 2025, unless the dispute is resolved.
Odinga has however criticized the move saying it undermines the tenets of the constitution on devolving of function and usurp the role of counties.
“On Fuel levy MPs have no business constructing roads,the role of the MPs is clearly stated.Representation , legislation and oversight. How do you oversight when you yourself are actually implementing?” he posed.
The ODM leader refuted the assertions by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah that the move by lawmakers to control the fuel levy fund was meant to safeguard its potential misuse by county bosses.
“Those fund should go to the counties, if the governors mess up then we will deal with the governors themselves, but don’t tie the hands of governors. And then MPs go and say,I have built this hospital and road but the governor has done nothing,” Odinga expressed.
Odinga supported the court’s decision on NG-CDF emphasizing that MPs should focus on their constitutional roles of representation, legislation, and oversight, rather than engaging in project implementation.
In September 2024, the High Court declared the NG-CDF Act unconstitutional, stating that it undermined devolution and led to resource wastage. The court ordered that all NG-CDF projects and activities cease by midnight on June 30, 2026.
“Let’s devolve funds to the counties. And that’s what told the MPs, Give NG-CDF to the government but let it be devolved to the counties not MPs,”
“Give the money to the governors, that devolution will work properly, and that’s why I say that if they don’t do it, we’ll make it an election subject So that members of parliament will now be allowed to do their work on oversight, which is your constitutional duty,”he said.