The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has announced that its permit application system has been restored.
In a notice on Wednesday, June 10, KeNHA said the system was once again accessible, allowing transporters to resume applying for exemption permits through the online platform.
"The Kenya National Highways Authority wishes to inform transporters that the permit application system has now been restored. You may now access permit services via the following link: https://permits.kenha.co.ke/," the notice read.
KeNHA noted that it has experienced a surge in applications since the portal became operational, prompting efforts to speed up processing while improving the system.
Explaining the situation, KeNHA said its staff was working continuously to handle the large number of applications.
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"Since the portal went live, the Authority has received a high volume of permit applications. Our team of verifiers and approvers is working around the clock to clear them, alongside the simultaneous system optimisation and resource allocation," the notice added.
To ease pressure on applicants and ensure the smooth processing of permits, the authority announced an additional extension period of 10 days.
"To prevent delays and facilitate the application and approval of permits, the Authority has granted a further extension of 10 days," the notice further read.
Under the extension, trucks operating with expired permits have been allowed to continue transporting the cargo specified in their permits until June 19.
The extension also applies to new permit applications, giving transporters additional time to submit their requests through the KeNHA permits portal before the same deadline.
Elsewhere, this comes days after the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure cautioned KeNHA against assigning several major road projects to the same contractors.
Speaking after an inspection visit of the Kisumu-Mamboleo-Miwani-Chemilil-Muhoroni road project, committee members said the practice has contributed to delays in infrastructure delivery across the country.
Led by Vice Chairperson Didmus Barasa, the lawmakers observed that many contractors currently handling multiple government projects are struggling financially, making it difficult to complete projects within expected timelines.
He acknowledged the progress made but emphasized the importance of engaging financially capable contractors and limiting the number of projects assigned to them at a time.
"We can see some great progress on this road. You need to identify good contractors with liquidity, capacity to do work, and this is because Government cash flow is slow, and again, once you give such contractors work of this magnitude, a fifteen billion project, don't give them any other work until they finish what they have," he said.
The committee also called on the State Department for Roads under the Ministry of Roads and Transport to speed up the release of allocated funds to KeNHA, arguing that delayed financing continues to slow implementation.
Committee member Samuel Arama warned that allowing contractors to simultaneously handle many projects increases the risk of further delays.
"Assigning many projects to one contractor will strain them, especially when they’re already struggling to raise funds while waiting for the exchequer to release allocations. This is an issue only KeNHA can fix, since you award and supervise these projects," he stated.
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