Nairobi — The Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) has opposed the government's move to hike the road maintenance and fuel levy from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre terming it illegal.
This follows a recent announcement made by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), which increased the levy by Sh7 despite public criticism of the new tax.
The Association said EPRA revised the road maintenance fuel levy from the previously ceiling capping of Sh18 to Sh25 per litre without public participation or parliamentary legislation.
"MAK is opposed to the mid July to August fuel prices where the Road Maintenance and Fuel Levy has been escalated from Sh 18 per litre to Sh 25 per litre despite submitted objections from the stakeholders and the general public," MAK stated.
MAK claimed that the decreasing fuel levy is a ploy to lure Kenyans into believing that pump prices have decreased significantly with the landed fuel costs that have decreased by a bigger margin.
The association revealed that according to the Road Maintenance and Fuel Levy Audit, no roads have been done or repaired with the funds collected in the last year.
"The expansion of the road network from gravel and earth roads to bitumen from 161,451 Kilometers to 239, 122 Kilometers in the last 10 years today has reduced regular expensive grading significantly since bitumen requires little to no maintenance. Fuel pump prices should be Sh 7 cheaper now something the EPRA has failed to do," it added.
Former Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that the hike in the tax will see the government collect an additional Sh32 billion. Now, the fund collects Sh83 billion annually.
Extra cash, he added, will allow the administration to repair and build roads, with a maintenance gap of Sh315 billion between 2023 and 2027 against the projected Road Maintenance Levy Fund.
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