The Controller of Budget (CoB), Margaret Nyakang’o, has released the County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report (CBIRR) for the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year. Siaya governor James Orengo. His county was ranked among the poor performers. Photo: James Orengo. Source: Facebook The report assessed the financial performance of all 47 county governments, providing insights into their revenue collection, funding transfers, exchequer disbursements, and spending patterns. It also examined how effectively counties utilised their approved budgets by analysing expenditure levels and absorption rates. How much did Kenyan counties access? According to the report, the review period, covering July 2025 to March 2026, showed that county governments had access to KSh 386.59 billion to support their operations and development programmes. The funds included KSh 33.05 billion in cash balances carried over from FY 2024/25, KSh 30.43 billion from own-source revenue, and KSh 275.98 billion from the equitable share of nationally raised revenue, which was authorised for transfer from the Consolidated Fund to County Revenue Funds under Article 206(4) of the Constitution. During the first nine months of FY 2025/2026, county governments spent KSh 72.07 billion on development projects, or 31% of the KSh 234.33 billion annual development budget allotment. “Over the course of the review period, the county spent a total of KSh 331.65 billion, of which KSh 259.57 billion (78%) was spent on recurring expenses and KSh 72.07 billion (22%) was spent on development,” the CoB disclosed.
Which counties reported lowest development allocations? The Constitution requires devolved units to spend at least 35% of their budgets on development. However, nine counties spent below 20% during the period under review. According to the Controller of Budget, Kajiado county recorded the lowest development expenditure during the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year, spending only 9% of its total expenditure on development. Kajiado under Joseph Ole Lenku topped the list of the lowest spenders. Other counties that recorded some of the lowest development allocations included Lamu, led by Governor Issa Timamy, at 11%; Siaya under Governor James Orengo, at 13%; Uasin Gishu led by Governor Jonathan Bii, at 13%; and Baringo under Governor Benjamin Cheboi, at 17%. Counties spent KSh 88.22 billion on operations and maintenance, while KSh 171.36 billion was spent on employee remuneration. Seven counties attained recurrent budget absorption rates of 70% or more, while forty counties reported rates below 50%. At 72%, Nairobi had the highest overall budget absorption rate, followed by 26 counties with absorption rates between 50% and 70%.
Meru (68%), Marsabit (66%), Nandi (63%), Wajir (62%), and Kilifi (61%) were among the other counties that performed well. Which counties reported highest development allocations? During the period under review, 43 counties had development budget absorption rates that were less than 50%. Four counties, however, went above the cutoff. These were Marsabit (51%), Wajir (54%), Meru (54%), and Nandi (55%).
