Win for Governors as court orders allocation of Ksh.10.5B road levy to counties

The High Court has ordered the allocation of Ksh.10.5 billion to counties for road maintenance, saying the exclusion of the devolved units from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) was unconstitutional.

The decision, which is expected to settle a protracted legal battle between the National Assembly and the Governors, had divided top national leaders.

In the landmark ruling by High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi issued on Thursday, the Governors will now have access to the lucrative Ksh.10.5 billion allocation for road maintenance, with the court telling the National Assembly to disburse the monies by June 30, 2025.

“The decisions by the National Assembly violated Articles 6, 10, and 186 of the Constitution and cannot stand," ruled the court.

The judge directed that the decision by the National Assembly undermined the principles of devolution, and is unconstitutional, unenforceable, illegal, null and void.

The National Assembly had stuck to its guns, with the MPs removing the devolved units from the list of beneficiaries to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund from September 2023.

The MPs have maintained that the Governors, whom they accused of corruption, had misappropriated other monies allocated to them.

On their side, the county chiefs accused the MPs of overstepping their mandate and undermining the devolved units.

The fight over the billions had roped in top national leaders, with ODM leader Raila Odinga, who has fashioned himself as the defender of devolution, going all out in the defence of counties.

"Do all the public participation you want. Ultimately, you must go to a referendum, and you will lose. It's not that we don't want bursaries—they'll be there, but distributed by the county government,” Raila said in Mombasa during the 42nd Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) annual conference in May.

He also insisted that the road maintenance levy should be managed by counties to ensure road construction is responsive to local needs. He added that corrupt Governors must face the law.

MPs had proposed the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 4 of 2025, which seeks to entrench the NG-CDF, the Senate Oversight Fund, and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) in the Constitution.

The Council of Governors sued the National Assembly and seven others over the fund.