Working Paper No. 01 of 2001 on Road Infrastructure Policies in Kenya: Historical Trends and Current Challenges

Abstract

Development and maintenance of physical infrastructure are prerequisites for economic growth and poverty reduction, as they influence production costs, employment creation, access to markets, and investment. This paper reviews and analyses road infrastructure policies in Kenya over the post-independence period. This paper has six sections. After the introduction, it presents the theoretical and policy framework for road infrastructure, focusing on the phases of roads development, structure for roads administration and provision, basic objectives of roads policies, and strategies for sustainable transport policies. The third and fourth sections deal with the trends in and the impact of the Kenya road policy. A critique on the policy framework and conclusions are presented in the penultimate and last sections. An inventory of the Kenya road policy framework over time shows that: i) the main policy initiatives during the first post-independence decade involved provision of infrastructure by the public sector and development of rural roads using cess funds from sale of rural output ii) rural access and minor roads programmes have characterized the Kenya road policy since the second decade iii) several policy reforms for road infrastructure development typify the third and fourth decades. The landmarks in the road policy evolution of a road maintenance levy fund and axle-load limits, and moves towards increased private-sector participation in all facets of road service delivery. The impact of Kenya's road policy is demonstrated by the size of roads network, which is fairly well developed. However, the network's operating condition has suffered from inadequate maintenance, repair and rehabilitation (MR & R), and the fragmentation of the institutional framework within which it is managed...