NAIROBI, Kenya – Kirinyaga and Busia counties have emerged as the top performers in utilizing their development budgets during the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, according to a report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o.
Both counties recorded a 12% absorption rate for their allocated development funds, significantly outperforming the national average.
Kirinyaga utilized Ksh378 million out of its total expenditure of Ksh965 million for development projects, while Busia spent Ksh328 million from Ksh1.5 billion.
Siaya and Garissa counties followed closely, with each recording a 10% absorption rate, using Ksh475 million and Ksh428 million respectively for development activities.
Despite these individual successes, the overall picture across Kenya’s counties remains bleak.
Collectively, counties spent only Ksh6.71 billion on development projects in the first quarter, a mere 3% of the total annual development budget of Ksh205.33 billion.
This marks a decline from the 4% absorption rate recorded during the same period last year.
The report highlights significant underperformance in some counties, with 10 of them—including Nairobi, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, and Lamu—failing to spend any funds on development during the quarter.
Instead, these counties directed all their expenditures to recurrent costs, raising questions about the alignment of their spending priorities with public needs.
Baringo, for instance, spent its entire budgeted expenditure of Ksh599 million on recurrent activities, neglecting development entirely.
Overall, recurrent expenditure for all counties totaled Ksh48.96 billion, representing 13% of the annual recurrent budget of Ksh371.4 billion.
This figure also reflects a decrease from the previous year’s first-quarter recurrent spending, which stood at Ksh60.56 billion or 18% of the annual recurrent budget.
The report underscores that counties are legally required to allocate at least 30% of their budgets to development, as stipulated in the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act of 2012.
While the overall allocation of 36% of county budgets to development for the year meets this requirement, the actual expenditure patterns reveal a failure to translate plans into action.
Prepared in line with Article 228(6) of the Constitution and the Controller of Budget Act, 2016, the report evaluates the performance of counties in revenue collection, expenditure, and budget implementation.
It covers the period between July and September 2024.
The combined approved budgets for counties in the 2024/25 financial year totaled Ksh576.73 billion, with Ksh205.33 billion allocated to development.
However, poor absorption rates and misalignment of priorities are evident, potentially undermining counties’ ability to address critical infrastructure and service delivery needs.
The latest findings have sparked renewed debate over the capacity of some governors to manage public resources effectively, with analysts calling for stricter oversight to ensure adherence to development goals.
Both counties recorded a 12% absorption rate for their allocated development funds, significantly outperforming the national average.
Kirinyaga utilized Ksh378 million out of its total expenditure of Ksh965 million for development projects, while Busia spent Ksh328 million from Ksh1.5 billion.
Siaya and Garissa counties followed closely, with each recording a 10% absorption rate, using Ksh475 million and Ksh428 million respectively for development activities.
Despite these individual successes, the overall picture across Kenya’s counties remains bleak.
Collectively, counties spent only Ksh6.71 billion on development projects in the first quarter, a mere 3% of the total annual development budget of Ksh205.33 billion.
This marks a decline from the 4% absorption rate recorded during the same period last year.
The report highlights significant underperformance in some counties, with 10 of them—including Nairobi, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, and Lamu—failing to spend any funds on development during the quarter.
Instead, these counties directed all their expenditures to recurrent costs, raising questions about the alignment of their spending priorities with public needs.
Baringo, for instance, spent its entire budgeted expenditure of Ksh599 million on recurrent activities, neglecting development entirely.
Overall, recurrent expenditure for all counties totaled Ksh48.96 billion, representing 13% of the annual recurrent budget of Ksh371.4 billion.
This figure also reflects a decrease from the previous year’s first-quarter recurrent spending, which stood at Ksh60.56 billion or 18% of the annual recurrent budget.
The report underscores that counties are legally required to allocate at least 30% of their budgets to development, as stipulated in the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act of 2012.
While the overall allocation of 36% of county budgets to development for the year meets this requirement, the actual expenditure patterns reveal a failure to translate plans into action.
Prepared in line with Article 228(6) of the Constitution and the Controller of Budget Act, 2016, the report evaluates the performance of counties in revenue collection, expenditure, and budget implementation.
It covers the period between July and September 2024.
The combined approved budgets for counties in the 2024/25 financial year totaled Ksh576.73 billion, with Ksh205.33 billion allocated to development.
However, poor absorption rates and misalignment of priorities are evident, potentially undermining counties’ ability to address critical infrastructure and service delivery needs.
The latest findings have sparked renewed debate over the capacity of some governors to manage public resources effectively, with analysts calling for stricter oversight to ensure adherence to development goals.
