Group petitions Mombasa court to stop road taxation

President William Ruto has faced a new tax hurdle after a human rights lobby group filed a petition in the Mombasa High Court seeking to halt the implementation of the Road Maintenance Fee Fund.

The Hakiyetu Organization said Fuel tax increase The increase from 18 shillings to 25 shillings per litre is unconstitutional, illegal, unreasonable and draconian.

The group, through lawyer Willis Oluga, said the levy, which is set to take effect on July 15, 2024, lacks public participation.

The lobby group sued the Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary, the Kenya Roads Board (KRB), the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) and the Attorney General.

Oluga said the defendants had proceeded to implement, enforce and give effect to the road maintenance levy despite the fact that the act was illegal and unconstitutional.

Haki Yetu governance programme coordinator Marius Kioko said the former CS Kipchumba Murkomen introduced fuel tax on premium petrol, regular petrol and diesel at Sh25,000 per 1,000 litres at 20 degrees Celsius.

He said the proponents of the levy did not attend the meeting to justify the rationale and objectives of the proposed levy increase and that the beneficiaries of the fund, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA), were not familiar with the formula used to justify the proposal.

Kioko said public participation was low and respondents did not consider the impact of the enactment of the order on the public.

“The 2024 Road Maintenance Fee Fund was issued and promulgated by Murkoman without full, effective, meaningful, proper and effective public participation, thus violating Section 10 of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution,” Kioko said.

Judge Stephen Githinji found the matter urgent and directed the applicant to serve the defendants by August 8, 2024.

The judge said the main basis of the application and petition was Road Maintenance Fund The document was published and promulgated without public participation, allegedly in violation of Section 10 of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution.

The petitioners sought a protective order to stop the government from implementing the road maintenance fee fund.

“Taking into account the above, I do hold that the application is urgent but decline to issue the order sought ex parte. I, therefore, direct that the application be served on the respondents requiring them to file their reply and the matter be mentioned online on August 8, 2024 for further directions,” Justice Gisingi said.

Kioko said the public forum scheduled by the defendants on July 8, 2024, was held at short notice and deliberately to create chaos and was a mirage, superficial and a mere formality.

“The respondent published a notice on its website, but this notice proved to be unreliable as it was not accessible until 72 hours before the deadline for submitting comments on July 5, 2024,” Kioko said.

Kioko said the 10 public participation sites were few in number and widely dispersed.

He said he was confused by the KRB’s notice posted on X (formerly Twitter) at 20:31 on July 4, 2024, stating that public participation meetings in 10 counties had been cancelled.

“For example, in the Coast region which consists of six counties, Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu and Taita Taveta, the respondents have only one public participation centre in Mombasa. In Nairobi, they have only one public participation centre at Transcom House, while throughout the Northern and Eastern regions, the centres are in Garissa,” Kioko said.

Kioko said the venues were also not suitable for persons with disabilities to express their views and the proposal was only posted on the KRB website which most Kenyans were unaware of and unable to access.

“The respondents have failed to educate the public on the rate, rationale and impact of the increase in road maintenance fees,” Keoko said.