Kiharu Member of Parliament, Ndindi Nyoro, has warned the government against introducing toll charges on the expanded Rironi–Mau Summit road.
Speaking on Tuesday, August 13, Nyoro said introducing tolling on the road would burden motorists who already pay for road maintenance.
He also warned that the move would make the economy less efficient and dampen the ease of doing business.
“Kenyans in the Western part of Kenya deserve this road to be dualled, but it will not serve our economy when this road is packaged as a business model. When we institute tolling, what we are basically doing is increasing the cost of doing business.
“Motorists will be made to pay for fuel, road maintenance levy in the fuel, and again be needed to pay an extra fee to use the Rironi-Mau Summit road,” said the Kiharu MP.
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Nyoro urged the government to explore creative ways of raising revenue for road construction, including privatizing state assets and selling its shares in certain corporations.
The UDA lawmaker proposed that the government sell part of its stake in Safaricom and raise Ksh100 billion to expand the Rironi-Mau Summit road without tolling.
“The government of Kenya has a 35 percent stake in Safaricom; they can easily sell 10 percent of the shares and get Ksh100 billion to build and expand the road without tolling it,” Nyoro added.
The government plans to begin the expansion of the 170-kilometre highway before the end of August 2025.
The project will be implemented under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and is estimated to cost Ksh90 billion.
Once completed, the road will become a four-lane dual carriageway, with six lanes in busy sections.
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