The High Court of Kenya on Thursday, June 5, handed a win to devolution in a landmark ruling handing over the control of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to county governments.
Delivered by High Court Justice Lawrence Mugambi, the ruling quashed the decisions of the National Assembly of September 28, 2023, that failed to recognise county governments as beneficiaries of the fund, popularly known as the fuel levy, in the financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.
It also voided another decision made on August 13, 2024, by the same National Assembly that further removed county governments as beneficiaries of over Ksh10 billion in conditional grants from funds derived from the fund in the 2024/25 financial year.
While making the decision, Justice Mugambi stated that the National Assembly decisions violated Article 186 (1) as read with Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule, Section 18 of the Constitution.
