Nairobi, Kenya – The Council of Governors has issued a stern warning to the National Government over the diversion of Sh38.4 billion meant for county development projects, calling the move a deliberate attempt to undermine devolution and cripple service delivery across the 47 counties.
In a press statement, the Council accused the National Treasury of arbitrarily redirecting funds allocated for critical county projects, including healthcare, agriculture, water, roads, and slum upgrading.
The diverted funds include Kshs. 24 billion in conditional grants from development partners and Kshs. 13 billion in additional allocations from the National Government for joint projects such as industrial parks.
“This is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic effort to weaken devolution,” said Dr. Mutahi Kahiga, Vice-Chairperson of the Council of Governors. “The National Government is creating a crisis by underfunding counties, only to blame them for failing to deliver services. This is a well-orchestrated scheme to roll back the gains of devolution.”
The Council’s statement comes in response to the passage of the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2025, which saw the National Government reallocate funds under the pretext that counties are unable to absorb the additional allocations.
However, the Council dismissed this reasoning as “fallacious,” noting that counties had already committed the funds to ongoing projects.
The National Treasury has also been accused of increasing its own expenditure by Kshs. 114 billion in the recently enacted Supplementary Appropriation Act 2025, while simultaneously reducing county allocations.
This, the Council argues, exposes the National Government’s double standards and disregard for the constitutional mandate to adequately resource counties.
“The right of counties to be funded is not a privilege; it is a constitutional guarantee,” Dr. Kahiga emphasized. “It is both morally and legally unacceptable for the National Government to continuously undermine devolution.”
The Council has given the National Government 14 days to restore the diverted funds and release Kshs. 78.03 billion in arrears owed to counties for January, February, and March.
Failure to do so, the Council warned, will result in a total shutdown of county services.
The Senate has been commended for its steadfast defense of devolution, with the Council urging the upper house to continue resisting the unconstitutional budgetary cuts.
“The Senate must stand firm with the people of Kenya and safeguard the gains of devolution,” the statement read.
Devolution, introduced under Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, has been hailed as a transformative system of governance, bringing services closer to the people and fostering local development.
However, the Council warned that the National Government’s actions threaten to reverse these gains.
“As Kenyans, it is our patriotic duty to protect our Constitution and the devolution it guarantees,” Dr. Kahiga said. “We will explore all legal and constitutional avenues to ensure counties receive their rightful allocations. The future of devolution and the delivery of critical services depend on it.”
