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Kura, Kerra on the spot over opaque county road projects
Construction works by Kenya Rural Roads Authority.
Senators have trained their guns on urban and rural road agencies over skewed allocation of funds for projects in the counties.
The lawmakers have accused the two agencies of unfairness in the allocation of funds for projects, demanding that Kura and Kerra come clean on the criteria they use.
Tharaka Nithi Senator Mwenda Gataya has decried the opaque nature of the allocation of resources.
He said the two agencies should provide a breakdown of the budgetary allocations for road projects by the two agencies from 2022 to date.
The legislator said the value of the projects in each county should be stated as well as the measures put in place to ensure equitable distribution.
The Roads and Transportation Committee chaired by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch has been tasked to handle the inquiry.
“The committee should clarify whether Kura and Kerra conduct consultations to inform budgetary allocations and if so, disclose the parties involved in these consultations,” said Mr Gataya.
The senator also wants the committee to outline the steps being taken by the national government to bridge gaps in budgetary allocations for road projects across the counties.
Kerra, for instance, has a project portfolio estimated at over Sh400 billion in contracted works with the figure comprising approximately Sh122 billion as the value of completed works and Sh278 billion in ongoing projects.
The money is earmarked for the upgrading of 8,700 kilometres of roads to bitumen standards countrywide.
Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda called for a framework for the allocation of funds to ensure fairness..
Prof Ojienda said that some counties lack tarmacked or motorable roads, and only such a framework will help achieve equity.
The senator said the budgetary allocation for road construction projects under Kura and Kerra, and the mechanism for such allocations cannot be understated because every county has roads that are not done.
“This statement could not have come at a better time. It is important that there is fairness in the allocations so that we do not have regions or areas where the road network is at a level that is beyond fair, say 50 to 60 per cent of the roads tarmacked, or at a level that is motorable,” he said.
Bomet Senator Hilary Sigei said the committee should go beyond the number of years that have been identified to ensure that they deal with the aspect of classification.
The senator wondered how several infrastructure projects can be undertaken by the two State agencies yet accessibility, even to some public places, is not possible.
Senator Sigei said that there is a need to have data on the criteria used for the allocation of resources for projects.
“This is so that we ensure that we have affirmative action in areas which for a long period have been ignored. Others get little or no resources,” he said.