Motorists will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets to enjoy a ride on some of the country’s best roads. This is after the Government announced it will partner with private-sector investors to finance five major roads through a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement at a cost of Sh380 billion.
After completion of the roads, private investors will then charge user fees, known as toll fees, to recoup their investments. They will operate and maintain the roads. Currently, motorists are charged a fuel levy, which is used for maintenance of the roads. “One of the innovative mechanisms the Government has identified for the road delivery and maintenance is through the public private partnership.
This implies the roads built or maintained with private capital with the private partner recovering the investment over the life of the contract by charging road tolls to motorists using such roads,” said Infrastructure Principal Secretary John Mosonik. He added the investors will be around for 30 to 35 years. The tolling policy is currently being discussed by the Cabinet and will soon reach Parliament for debate.
Five transport corridors that have been earmarked including the Nairobi-Mombasa; Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit; Second Nyali bridge that is supposed to connect Mombasa Island to the mainland; Nairobi Southern bypass and Thika Superhighway. With a public that already feels overburdened with taxes, it is going to be interesting to see how an extra charge on use of the roads is going to be received.