On Saturday, November 14, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on two consolidated appeals that challenged a High Court ruling concerning the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).

The appellate bench, comprising Justices Agnes Murgor, Abida Aroni and Joel Ngugi, ruled in favour of the National Assembly, sustaining its control over the RMLF and overturning the High Court’s earlier interpretation of fund distribution.

Parliament and the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) had jointly appealed the High Court judgment delivered on 5 June 2025, arguing that the fund’s allocation should remain under national legislative oversight.

The Court affirmed that Section 47 of the Kenya Roads Act, 2007, together with its First Schedule, is constitutional and delineates road responsibilities between national and county governments.

Consequently, the appellate decision rejected the High Court’s view that county governments are direct beneficiaries of the RMLF, maintaining the existing distribution mechanism prescribed by law.

The ruling also upheld Section 6 of the Kenya Roads Board Act, which sets out the sharing formula among the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the KRB.

As a result, the operational mandates of the three national road agencies—KeNHA, KURA and KeRRA—remain unchanged, and they will continue to manage their respective road categories under the current legal framework.

The RMLF, financed through a levy on fuel, will keep flowing to these agencies for road construction and maintenance across Kenya, ensuring continuity of funding under the established institutional arrangement.