June 27, 2007
Kenya is now progressing well with its reforms in the roads subsector. Several years back Kenya established a road fund which currently is the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa with about US$ 130 million collected this year. Until now, the day-to-day road management has been the responsibility of the Roads Department in the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. However, the proposed Roads Bill 2007 that recently was forwarded to the Parliament, will create three new road authorities. Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) will all be authorities under the Ministry of Roads and Public Works, the road fund under the management of Kenya Roads Board (KRB) is also under the same ministry. The reform process in Kenya has been very robust, and many stakeholders have been represented in the Joint Inter-Ministerial Reform Task-Force for the roads subsector. In May, the SSATP contributed to a workshop in Mombasa, and over two days all the issues related to the practical establishment and transitional arrangements for the three road authorities were studied and discussed in detail. As soon as the bill is passed, the process towards fully operational authorities in 2008 will be well underway.
Uganda has for several years been the only East African country with no road fund, but nevertheless has been able over time to give roads a high priority in its annual budgets. However, more severe budget constraints over the last few years have paved the way for a road fund under the umbrella of Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The Ugandan Road Fund is expected to have a larger than usual portion of its collection coming from vehicle licensing fees, while most of the funds are relying mainly on fuel levies. A Road Fund Bill is now ready for presentation to the Parliament, and is expected to be passed later this year. For many years, Uganda has had a forerunner to the roads authority in the World Bank-supported Road Agency Formation Unit (RAFU). The Bill for the new Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was passed about a year ago, and establishment of the new authority is now progressing. The deadline for applications for the director's position was in June this year, and the SSATP contributed in May to a workshop that included the newly appointed Board for the authority as well as other stakeholders and development partners in the detailed preparations for setting it up. The authority which will be staffed from RAFU, the Ministry and through external recruitments is expected to take over the day-to-day management of the network later this year. UNRA will be an authority under the Ministry of Works and Transport.
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