Senate summons CS Chirchir over 13-year delay in devolving road functions
The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations has resolved to summon the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Davis Chirchir, to explain the prolonged 13-year delay in the full devolution of road functions to county governments.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, the Senate revealed that the decision came after a tense session with the Director General of the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), Silas Kinoti, during which senators accused national agencies of deliberately resisting constitutional mandates meant to empower counties.
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“The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations has resolved to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Hon. @davis_chirchir, for a meeting over the 13-year delay in devolving road functions,” read the statement in part.
During the session, members of the Committee expressed frustration that despite the Constitution of Kenya 2010 clearly outlining roads as a devolved function, national agencies such as KURA and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) continue to operate as if the transition had never been effected.
Further, Kinoti insisted that KURA manages the National Urban Trunk Roads, citing capacity issues in counties and agreements to manage county roads as the reason for the failure to fully devolve the devolved function.
Road Maintenance Levy Fund
This comes a few months after county governments scored a significant victory in their fight for road maintenance funding after the National Treasury released Ksh3.68 billion from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund to the devolved units.
The disbursement followed the Senate’s move to reinstate the fund, which has been at the centre of a protracted legal and political standoff between county governments and the National Assembly in the current financial year.
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According to the Council of Governors (CoG), the Treasury released 35 per cent of the Ksh10.52 billion due to counties.
“They released 35 per cent on June 30, but we are fighting for the entire amount to be disbursed,” CoG chairperson Mutula Kilonzo Jnr said.
The Treasury’s move complies with a High Court order that mandated the release of the funds, following a petition filed by the CoG and several MPs.
The petition challenged the National Assembly’s decision to exclude counties from the RMLF in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years.
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High Court judge Lawrence Mugambi declared the exclusion unconstitutional, saying it violated counties’ constitutional mandate to maintain county roads.
“This denied all county governments the funds needed to maintain county roads, while national road agencies continued receiving the RMLF—clearly against the constitutional framework,” the court stated.
On August 13, 2024, the National Assembly removed the full allocation to counties from the relevant Bill, effectively cutting them off from road maintenance funding.
Although the assembly appealed the ruling, it failed to secure a conservatory order to halt its implementation.
