The National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) has disclosed that it raised over K450 million from toll fees in the previous year 2016.
And the agency has targeted to raise over K2.1 billion from toll fees this year, 2017 from the Tolling Programme Phase II.
Briefing journalists today during a media Breakfast Meeting in Lusaka, NRFA Acting Chief Executive Officer Engineer Wallace Mumba says the agency has grown having started with a humble budget of K849 million in 2006 to K6.6 billion in 2016 giving a total budgetary allocation of K33.5 billion by end of 2016.
Engineer Mumba says the period from 2011 to date has been iconic for the road sector having seen an upswing in the overall road infrastructure investment with over K24 billion out of the K33.5 billion allocated to the sector representing 72% of the total investment during the last 10 years.
He says within 2016, the agency commissioned three toll stations using a simple booth and boom technology and brought in new stream of revenue particularly for sustainable road maintenance.
He adds that the three inland toll stations of Manyumbi, Kafulafuta and Kafue are contributing around 10 percent of the overall annual toll revenue from ports of entry and weighbridges.
Meanwhile, the NRFA Acting Chief Executive Officer has also disclosed that there are toll sites that will be introduced this year which include Levy Mwanawasa between Ndola and Kitwe, Garnerton between Kitwe and Chingola, Kapiri to Mkushi along Great North Road, Kasama – Mbala, Choma, Solwezi – Mutanda junction, Nyimba – Petauke, Katete – Chipata.
“Engineer Wallace Mumba”
Are such titles really necessary? We are slowly becoming like Nigeria.
NRFA advert featuring Mwine Mushi is not good as it encourages people not to wear seat belts. can someone please tell these guys to re-do it or withdraw it completely
It should not be seen as pride but daylight robbery from your citizens.
I smell a rat here. That’s just too many gates. So if you are driving from Chingola to Lusaka you have to have roughly K160 for this crap just for driving your car? Let’s hope they won’t just rip us off.
Imagine yourself driving all that distance in the bush!
Who do you want to pay for your travel on a tarmac?
I am a proud payer of the toll fee. Be proud administrators of the fund to benefit Zambia. We will then not complain at all. Periodically account for use of the funds rather than informing us how much you have collected from us. That is not neccesary or is highly inadequate.
Collected or Extorted?
The problem is all this money raised is lost in overpriced contracts through proxy ministers companies or contracts sold to Chinese companies…in the end you get poorly constructed roads and the whole cycle continues!!
If the country can make such huge sums of money let’s hope for the good roads in and out of townships.
You can only tax people so much. Don’t drivers already pay road tax? How many road toll gates are necessary? I think greed is creeping in and its not entirely clear whether all this money is used for everyone’s benefits. If you want to widen the tax base, create more local productive industries, not squeeze more and more from the same ‘sub-population’ of drivers.
Expect nothing in terms of road development as this money is all going to finance the pf cadres like the the higer buses which were bought for these pf thugs.
NRFA should go a step further by itemizing how the collected revenue is expended. This will infuse greater levels of confidence by the Zambians. It is not enough just to state how much has been raised. The biggest question is how has it been spent. We need greater levels of transparency hence lobbying for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
GRZ vehicles should be exempted. Imagine if someone is on a working trip from Lusaka to Kitwe they may be required to pay 3 times road toll fees in a one way trip and so road toll fees should be budgeted for every time there’s a GRZ working trip outside any town. So the same money goes back to the Government treasury. That’s why I see no reason in charging GRZ vehicles.
Bernard Katongo Lubumbashi, Jnr: I agree totally with your sentiments. In RSA, for example, all Highways have been Tolled for years. Johannesburg to Beit Bridge; Johannesburg to Durban; Johannesburg to Cape Town; Johannesburg to Zeerust, etc. The money collected from these tolls is ploughed back into road maintenance, which is why South African Highways compete in quality and beauty, with those in first – world countries like the USA, UK, Germany, etc. If NRFA can show the citizens where every Kwacha collected is being spent, all shall be well.
It is not enough to tell us how much money you will collect tell us how the money you have raised so far has been spent. Otherwise we shall continue to be subjected to poorly constructed and yet very expensive road networks. For a start ensure that the roads are marked with approved quality road paints.
Sober up fellows? Do not refer to others as thugs? A few hater calling PF as thugs are actually making the PF more popular. The language against PF is terrible. Watch your language.
I have come across a number of people who are UPND supporters getting worried at the extent of bad language being peddled against the PF and senior Government officials. Let us debate on real issues.