The national government allocates money to counties annually to meet their development and recurrent expenditures.
Development expenditures go toward new projects in the county, while recurrent expenditures ensure the continuity of county government functions by spending on operations, maintenance, and personnel emoluments.
Quick Facts[1]
- The approved budget for county governments in FY 2024/2025 – Ksh 601.69 billion
- Approved development budget – Ksh 218.99 billion
- Approved recurrent budget – Ksh 382.7 billion
- Total revenue available to the counties in FY 2024/2025 – Ksh 533.11 billion
- Equitable share allocation to counties – Ksh 387 billion
- Own Source Revenue collected by the counties – Ksh 42.71 billion
- Conditional grants from development partners – Ksh -
- Cash balances – Ksh 23 billion
- Average monthly MCA sitting allowance – Ksh 58,808
- Total pending bills by the counties – Ksh 176.8 billion
Total approved budgets for county governments
According to the Office of the Controller of Budget, the County Assemblies approved a total budget of Ksh 601.69 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025, with 63.6% allocated to recurrent expenditure and 36.4% allocated to development.
The total amount allocated to development by the County Assemblies was Ksh 218.99 billion, and the amount allocated to recurrent expenditure was Ksh 382.7 billion.
Available funds for county governments
County governments have various sources of funds, including the equitable share, which is collected by the national government and distributed to the counties, own-source revenue collected locally within counties, and conditional grants received from development partners.
The total available funds to the county governments in the financial year 2024/2025 were Ksh 533.11 billion.
The equitable share amounted to Ksh 387 billion, while the own-source revenue collected by all 47 counties amounted to Ksh 42.71 billion.
The chart below shows the equitable share allocation to the counties by the national government of Kenya from 2013 to 2024.
In addition, the counties received conditional grants amounting to Ksh 35.97 billion from development partners in 2023/24.
Cash balances in the counties amounted to Ksh 23 billion.
County government expenditure on recurrent and development expenditure
Recurrent expenditure is money spent by the county governments on operations, maintenance, and personnel emoluments. Personnel emoluments consist of salaries and benefits to county government employees.
In the Financial Year 2024/2025, the total amount spent on development by the 47 counties was Ksh 124 billion, representing an absorption rate of 56.6% of the total development budget of Ksh 218.99 billion.
The chart below shows county government expenditure on development, operations and maintenance, and personnel emoluments (salaries and benefits).
On the other hand, the overall recurrent expenditure was Ksh 346.98 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025, representing an absorption rate of 90.6% of the total budget on recurrent expenditure.
Recurrent expenditure by the counties consists of:
- Personnel emoluments – Ksh 220.64 billion
- Operations and maintenance – Ksh 126.34 billion
Spending on personnel emoluments accounted for 63.59% of the total recurrent expenditure, while operations and maintenance accounted for 36.41%.
County government development budget as a percentage of the total budget
The Public Finance Management Act of 2012 requires that at least 30% of a county’s budget go toward development. In FY 2024/2025, the average county allocation to development was 36.4%.
The counties with the highest development budgets were Kilifi, 53.4%; Kwale, 46.7%; Siaya, 44.5%; Uasin Gishu, 41.9%; Trans Nzoia, 41.5%; Marsabit, 41.4%; Laikipia, 41% and Kisii, 40.5%.
The counties with the lowest development budgets as a share of the total budget were Taita Taveta at 29.4%, Meru at 29.6%, West Pokot at 29.7%, Murang'a at 30%, Kajiado at 30%, Narok at 30.4%, and Machakos at 30.4%.
County government development expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure
The 47 counties spent, on average, 24.4% of their total expenditure on development.
The counties with the highest development expenditures as a percentage of total expenditure were Kilifi at 42.1%, Trans Nzoia at 36.3%, Siaya at 35.6%, Marsabit at 34.9%, Nandi at 33.4%, Homa Bay at 33.1%, Kericho at 32.33%, Busia at 32.32%, and Uasin Gishu at 32.3%.
The counties with the lowest development expenditures as a percentage of total expenditure were Nairobi at 12.2%, Machakos at 16.5%, Kisumu at 16.6%, Kiambu at 17.9%, Kajiado at 18.5%, Nyamira at 18.6%, and Elgeyo Marakwet at 21.3%.
Average monthly sitting allowances for MCAs
The total budget for MCA's sitting allowances in the Financial Year 2024/2025 was Ksh 1.8 billion. However, the uptake was only 87%, with counties spending a total of 1.57 billion on MCA sitting allowances.
The average monthly MCA sitting allowance was Ksh 58,808. Counties spending the highest on MCA sitting allowances include:
- Tharaka Nithi – Ksh 108,333
- Busia – Ksh 99,456
- Baringo – Ksh 93,438
- Tana River – Ksh 92,128
- Kisumu – Ksh 87,744
- Samburu – Ksh 85,964
- Kericho – 82,347
- Embu – Ksh 82,267
Counties that spent the lowest on MCA sitting allowances were:
- Mandera – Ksh 17,823
- Turkana – Ksh 18,872
- Kitui – Ksh 20,365
- Nairobi – Ksh 30,703
- Laikipia – Ksh 30,732
- Garissa – Ksh 35,416
- Isiolo – Ksh 35,753
- Kilifi – Ksh 36,448
- Bungoma – Ksh 36,484
- Nyeri – Ksh 36,508
Pending bills by county
The 47 counties had outstanding pending bills of Ksh 176.9 billion as of 30th June 2025. This included pending bills of Ksh 171.75 billion by the county executive and Ksh 5.16 billion by the county assemblies.
See Also
- Total pending bills by county and national government
- Recurrent Expenditures by County in Kenya
- County Development Expenditure in Kenya - Development Spending
- Equitable Share Revenue Allocation in Kenya by County
- Own Source Revenue Collection by Counties in Kenya
References
[1] Office of the Controller of Budget (August 2024). County government budget implementation review report. Financial Year 2023/2024.