Road Fund Administration (RFA) chief executive Ali Ipinge says the RFA still believes toll gates could help fund road infrastructure.
This comes after works and transport minister Veikko Nekundi on Wednesday told parliament that the government had rejected plans to introduce toll gates when he served as transport deputy minister.
“Our position is that it is still a viable option, but the policy decision needs full Cabinet support, and that has not been formally presented,” Ipinge says.
The toll gate proposal was first introduced in 2021 to help fund road maintenance. The RFA proposed installing between 21 and 23 toll gates across the national road network.
According to a feasibility study, the system could generate between N$500 million and N$750 million a year, or as much as N$3.9 billion over five years.
“We presented the matter to the Cabinet three or four years back. The Cabinet, at that time, in principle endorsed the decision. We needed to do stakeholder consultations and that is part of the process we have been engaging in,” he told The Namibian yesterday.
He said he is unaware of any formal government decision to reject the proposed toll gate system.
“Once we had completed consultations, the plan was then to formally present it [to the Cabinet]. So I am not sure when there is a statement to say it is rejected without being presented. I do not know, but that is a question for the minister of works,” he said.
In November 2024, the National Council standing committee on transport, infrastructure and housing recommended introducing toll gates on major roads after a benchmarking visit to Zambia and Botswana, where members studied road financing models.
Brunhilde Cornelius, who started an online petition against the proposal four years ago, welcomes Nekundi’s announcement but questioned why the public had not been informed sooner.
“I am very grateful that it was rejected. But then they must just elaborate on why the rejection. It is a good move,” Cornelius says.
She says many Namibians still believed toll gates would be introduced because there had been no official communication.
Independent Patriots for Change member of parliament and shadow minister of works and transport Nelson Kalangula says the public’s trust in Nekundi has been weakened.
Kalangula agreed that Nekundi’s announcement in parliament should have been communicated to the public much earlier.
“I feel the minister ought to come with a better response to engage more with people to put them at ease. Because at the moment, the road users and the people that are looking up to the minister are not seeing trust in his conduct of work,” he says.
Five months ago, the RFA said it faced a funding shortfall of N$3.6 billion under its integrated strategic business plan for 2024 to 2029. It projected the gap would increase to N$15.3 billion over five years.
