Speech By The Minister for Transport, The Honourable Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere, During The 2nd Humanitarian Development Summit - KICC Nairobi, Kenya, 17-19 October 2007
We all recognise that an effective and efficient transport system is an important prerequisite in facilitating national and regional integration, promoting trade, economic growth, poverty reduction and wealth creation. Our ultimate goal as a country is to have an effective, efficient and modern transport system that will enhance Kenya’s development in terms of integrating production and population centres, facilitating mobility in rural and urban areas, facilitating trade promotion amongst countries in the region, improving the overall welfare of the people and Kenya’s competitiveness.
But before we realise our dream we need to overcome some inhibiting problems and challenges related to management, policy and structural/institutional and legal aspects among others. Kenya’s transport sector consists of Road Transport, Rail Transport, Maritime and Inland Water Ways Transport, Pipeline Transport and Non-motorised and Intermediate Means of Transport (NMIMTS). The challenges to overcome include among others:
One, the modes of transport are administered/or their services are provided by several institutions. The Ministry of Transport is responsible for overall multimodal transport sector policy as well as being responsible for Air Transport, Railway, Maritime, Transport Licensing Board (TLB), Transport Appeals Tribunal and the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit with one leg in the Ministry and the other in the Police Department. The Ministry of Roads and Public Works is in charge of road sub-sector policy formulation and coordination, while the Roads Department is the implementing agency for works on classified roads. Ministry of Local Government is responsible for policy formulation for Local Authorities which in turn are implementing agencies responsible for urban and unclassified rural roads. The Registrar of Motor Vehicle is administratively under the Kenya Revenue Authority. Pipeline Transport comes under the Ministry of Energy. Traffic Police which enforces traffic rules are under the Office of the President. The Kenya Roads Board, a statutory body is under the Ministry of Roads and Public Works and coordinates all maintenance works. This fragmentation coupled with numerous statutes many of which are outdated or in need of urgent review to deal with inconsistencies hamper the effective operations of the transport sector.
Two, the modal split is in favour of Road Transport due to its comparative advantage in terms of speed, flexibility and accessibility. Reflecting this popularity and increased realisation of the significance of road transport for rural development and poverty alleviation, road development has continued to receive major attention of the successive governments since independence at the expense of other modes of transport. A good example is the amount of resources we allocate to non motorised transport. There are no dedicated lanes for bicycle users in urban areas and foot paths are almost non existent. The result is that bicycles compete with vehicles for the same space with the attendant dangers to the former.
Third, in Kenya different transport modes are not fully integrated and each mode operates largely on its own without an initiative to establish efficient logistic chains between origin and destination. A transport mode is increasingly considered only as a link in the chain from the origin to the ultimate destination. The need to have integrated systems allowing for provision of a seamless transport services is important. The same can be said of railway systems across countries in the region. They are of different gauges which makes it difficult to have seamless services. Even where movement is possible on different gauges, the operations at interchange points are so inefficient that they make it impossible to transfer goods from one gauge to another.
Fourth, although local authorities ranging from the city to county and town councils are expected to be responsible for the provision and maintenance of urban infrastructure, including roads nearly all of them have been experiencing critical financial constraints, poor resource management and lack of quality personnel in specialised areas. For the classified roads developed and maintained by the Central Governmental there is a large backlog of road rehabilitation and maintenance that arises due to inadequate funding. There is also over-dependence on development partner assistance and there is no clearly developed mechanism for private sector investment in the funding of road development or maintenance.
Fifth, the urban air pollution is becoming a major environment problem affecting the city of Nairobi due to vehicular emissions. This has arisen due to poor and inadequate road systems, high traffic density causing congestion, lack of proper monitoring and strategies, policies and enforcement of existing rules and regulations.
Sixth, IT has not been embraced fully in the transport sector; very few trucks are fitted with GPS for purposes of tracking cargo.
Seventh, overloaded heavy goods vehicles contribute to road destruction which consequently affects the operating conditions of all vehicles. The level of service at weighbridge sites is poor while the weighbridge equipment and infrastructure is in poor condition. The current penalties are not directly linked to the damaging impact on road pavements. Vehicle specifications, including the addition of a 4th axle to trailers are out of step with those used in other parts of the region and encourage operators to overload.
In spite of all these challenges the Government is taking action to overcome them.
The Government intends to reform the roads sub-sector. The Ministry responsible for roads shall continue to provide the regulatory framework, coordination, oversight, supervision, liaison with other Ministries and any services necessary for the smooth functioning of the reformed roads sub-sector. A bill to establish the Kenya National Highways Authority to be responsible for the development and management of major roads, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority to be responsible for development and management of roads in cities and municipalities was passed by Parliament and assented to by the President.
Second, the Government has enhanced the budget for road infrastructure development from Kshs. 24 billion last year to Kshs. 40 billion in this financial year. The possibility of tapping long-term capital from the private sector including pension funds, floating road bonds and other financing instruments is being explored. The Government will also encourage public/private partnerships (PPP) to tap private financing once the new institutional/legal framework being developed by the Ministry of Finance is in place.
Third, the Government has already concessioned the Kenya Railways and is in the process of implementing the Nairobi Urban Road concessioning project. All this is aimed at expanding sources of funding to meet the growing needs of infrastructure rehabilitation and development.
Fourth, the Government through the Kenya Ports Authority will develop and expand port facilities (Container Terminal) to be able to handle large vessels and interface with hinterland growth in line with regional trade requirements. Already the Kenya Ports Authority has completed the modernisation of handling equipment at a cost of Kshs. 7 billion and plans are underway to expand the Container Terminal to handle 1.1 million TEUS from the current 480,000 TEUS.
Fifth, the Government is determined to strictly enforce axle load regulations in order to protect the roads from damage. Already the Government has gazetted new Axle Limits which outlaws the fourth group axle and puts the maximum gross vehicle weight at 56 tonnes. These new vehicles specifications and axle load limits become effective in December and they are in tandem with those of other countries within the COMESA region. In addition the Government will enhance private sector participation in axle load operations with a view to improving axle load management. Also weigh in motion equipment shall be introduced and the existing specific weigh bridges modernised.
Sixth, countries across the region need to agree and adopt a standard railway gauge so that future developments adhere to this standard for purposes of compatibility.
Seventh, we need to enhance the use of ICT systems for efficient development and management of the transport sector. In this regard the Government of Kenya has approved the introduction of the new generation driving license and new motor vehicle number plates. This is a major step forward in the use of ICT for gathering traffic information for planning, monitoring and control purposes.
Lastly, let me conclude my remarks by saying if we are to continue meeting the demands our transport customers expect, then we will have to maximise the use of existing facilities, develop a facilitative legal, institutional and regulatory framework for the sector, bring in efficiency in transport project investment, enhance transport safety and security, expand transport sector capacity at all levels, strengthen multi-modalism, and apply innovative transport techniques for improved transport sector performance.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Honourable Ambassador Chirau Ali MwakwereMinister for Transport
