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Counties fail to spend Sh72bn on development
The Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o.
What you need to know:
- The law requires that at least 30 percent of counties’ budgets be allocated to development. However, the devolved units have been breaching the requirement over the years, a fact the COB now says is worrying.
County projects in health, education and roads face high risks of stalling after the devolved units failed to spend Sh72 billion on development budget over the six months to December 2024.
County governments spent Sh33.6 billion, which is just one-third of the Sh105.7 billion that was required to be spent on development, according to the latest controller of budget (COB) report.
For fiscal year July 2024 to June 2025, the counties have a development budget of Sh211.5 billion.
The failure to spend Sh72 billion funds meant for development projects was caused by low own-source revenues (OSR) and delays in release of exchequer funds by the Treasury.
“Analysis of development expenditure as a proportion of the approved annual development budget showed that several county governments had an absorption rate of less than 10 per cent for their development programs,” COB Margaret Nyakang’o noted.
Burden to spend
The counties have now been left with a burden to spend upwards of Sh177.9 billion on projects within the remaining six months to the end of June 2025, which raises fears of projects stalling and further growth of pending bills.
The law requires that at least 30 percent of counties’ budgets be allocated to development. However, the devolved units have been breaching the requirement over the years, a fact the COB now says is worrying.
“Robust project planning, monitoring and implementation mechanisms should be adopted to improve the absorption rate of development funds and enhance the country’s development,” Dr Nyakang’o says.
Spending on development during the period, however, grew from Sh24.8 billion during a similar period in 2023.
The COB report notes that during the six months to December 2024, Mandera County had the highest development spending against its annual development budget at 32 percent, which still falls far short of the required 50 percent spending for the half-year period.
Narok County spent Sh1.5 billion (30 per cent of its approved development budget for the year), Garissa County spent Sh1.18 billion (28 per cent), Uasin Gishu County spent Sh1.28 billion (27 per cent) and Marsabit spent Sh974 million (26 per cent).
“Conversely, the following Counties attained the lowest absorption rates of their respective approved development budgets, that is, Baringo and Tana River each at 7 percent, followed by Taita-Taveta, Kisumu, Nairobi City and Nyeri each at 6 percent and Elgeyo-Marakwet, Lamu, Nakuru and Kitui each at 5 percent,” the COB report notes.