How much Kenyan Counties Spend on Salaries, Operations and Maintenance

Counties are required by law to allocate at least thirty percent of their budgets to development. 

The remaining portion of the budget goes toward recurrent expenditure, which includes spending on personnel emoluments (salaries and benefits), operations, and maintenance.

Quick Facts

1. In the 2023/2024 financial year, counties spent Ksh 209.8 billion on personnel emoluments, including salaries for employees.^[1]
2. County spending on salaries and benefits was 47% of total county government expenditure in that year.
3. In FY 2023/2024, counties also spent Ksh 127.69 billion on operations and maintenance, 29% of total county government expenditure.

Total government spending on recurrent expenditure

Other than development spending, counties spend on recurrent expenditure, which includes spending on operations, maintenance activities, salaries, and benefits.

In the 2023/2024 financial year, counties spent Ksh 337.5 billion on recurrent expenditure, compared to Ksh 109.2 billion spent on development. 

Overall, 76% of the total county government expenditure went towards recurrent expenses. 

From the chart above, we also see that recurrent spending has grown by 61.7%, from Ksh 129.1 billion in FY 2013/2014 to Ksh 337.5 billion in FY 2023/2024.^[2]

A larger share of recurrent spending went toward salaries and benefits

Spending on personnel emoluments, including county employees' salaries, benefits, bonuses, and other monetary and non-monetary benefits, took up the largest share of recurrent spending.

Spending on salaries and benefits took up 47% of total county government spending, amounting to Ksh 209.8 billion.

On the other hand, expenditure on operations and maintenance took 29% of total county government expenditure, amounting to Ksh 127.69 billion.  

In the financial year 2023/2024, spending on personnel emoluments accounted for 62.2% of total recurrent expenditures.

Spending on county employees’ salaries and benefits also grew steadily from Ksh 77.4 billion in FY 2023/2024 to Ksh 209.8 billion in FY 2023/2024. This represents a 63.1% increase.

Total recurrent expenditure by county

The chart below shows the total amount spent by each county on recurrent expenditure.

Nairobi spent Ksh 28.5 billion, followed by Kiambu at 14.3 billion, Nakuru at 12 billion, Kakamega at 11.1 billion, Mombasa at 10.7 billion, and Kilifi at 10.7 billion.

The lowest-spending counties on recurrent expenditures were Lamu, at Ksh 2.9 billion, Isiolo, at Ksh 3.3 billion, Tharaka Nithi, at Ksh 3.9 billion, Elgeyo Marakwet, at Ksh 4.2 billion, and Vihiga, at Ksh 4.2 billion.

How much each county spent on salaries and benefits

The chart below shows how much each county spent on salaries and benefits between 2023 and 2024.

Nairobi County spent Ksh 14.8 billion on salaries and benefits – the highest among all counties.

Next were Kisii at Ksh 5.7 billion, Kakamega at Ksh 3.7 billion, Mandera at Ksh 3.7 billion, Kilifi at Ksh 3.4 billion, Nyamira at Ksh 3.3 billion, Turkana at Ksh 3.3 billion, Uasin Gishu at Ksh 3.2 billion, and Narok at Ksh 3.2 billion.

Counties that spent the least on salaries and benefits include Lamu at Ksh 800 million, Tharaka Nithi at Ksh 900 million, Kiambu at Ksh 1.2 billion, Embu at Ksh 1.2 billion, Laikipia at Ksh 1.2 billion, and Busia at 1.3 billion.

How much do counties spend on operations and maintenance?

This is spending that goes towards all activities required by the county to operate effectively, including the purchase of medicines, fuel, vehicle maintenance, and more.

In the financial year 2023/2024, Nairobi County spent the highest on operations and maintenance at Ksh 13.7 billion.

Kiambu followed it at Ksh 13.1 billion, Nakuru at Ksh 9 billion, Mombasa at Ksh 8.6 billion, Machakos at Ksh 8 billion, Kakamega at Ksh 7.4 billion, and Kilifi at Ksh 7.3 billion.

The counties that spent the least on operations and maintenance are Nyamira, at Ksh 1.5 billion; Isiolo, at Ksh 1.8 billion; Marsabit, at Ksh 2 billion; Lamu, at Ksh 2.1 billion; Kisii, at Ksh 2.3 billion; Vihiga, at Ksh 2.7 billion; and Elgeyo Marakwet, at Ksh 2.7 billion.

Spending on personnel emoluments, operations, and maintenance as a percentage of total county expenditure

The table below shows county governments’ spending on personnel emoluments (PE) and operations & maintenance (O&M) as a percentage of total county government spending.

See Also

1. Development expenditure by county
2. Equitable share allocation by county
3. Own-source revenue collection by county
4. Expenditures by county government
5. Pending bills in Kenya – national and county governments

References