Local authorities risk penalties for neglecting to present their budgets, as per the announcement by the City of Bristol.
The National Government's total expenditure for the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year amounts to Sh2.86 trillion, representing 62% of the revised gross estimates of Sh4.64 trillion. The expenditure comprises ministerial development expenditure of Sh338.18 billion, recurrent ministerial expenditure of Sh1.20 trillion, and Consolidated Fund Services (CFS) expenditure of Sh1.31 trillion.
Meanwhile, county governments in Kenya are facing several challenges in submitting their budgets for approval by the Controller of Budget (CoB). Delays, internal disputes over budget legitimacy, poor access to essential planning documents, and lack of genuine participation in the budgeting process are some of the issues that have been reported.
For instance, Isiolo County has faced rejection and controversy over its Sh7 billion budget due to disputes between county assembly members and allegations of illegality stemming from lack of proper assembly involvement. Additionally, many counties struggle with limited access to key documents such as the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), which hinders effective budget planning and submission.
These issues lead to delays that have attracted warnings of sanctions from the CoB for counties failing to meet their budget submission deadlines. According to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), counties are required to submit their approved budgets by the end of June to enable them to draw funding from the Treasury.
As of now, only two counties have had their budgets approved, while the rest, including Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Kakamega, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, West Pokot, Vihiga, Samburu, Kajiado, Laikipia, Lamu, and a duplicate entry of Kirinyaga, are under review or yet to finalize their budgets.
Without CoB approval, devolved units cannot access funds for development programmes, salaries, or settlement of debts, effectively paralyzing their operations. The CoB has stated that if the assembly does not pass the budget by June 30, it would be a violation of the law.
The CoB has expressed concern over political blackmail by assemblies, which deliberately delay, rewrite, or reject proposals to extract concessions or settle scores. The Controller of Budget (CoB), Margaret Nyakang'o, has announced the approval of the budgets for the State Department for Interior and National Administration, the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary.
The Interior Department and the National Police Service have been allocated Sh32.6 billion and Sh125 billion, respectively, for the 2025/2026 financial year. The National Government's original gross budget for the 2024/25 financial year was Sh4.49 trillion, which was revised to Sh4.37 trillion in Supplementary Budget I and Sh4.64 trillion in Supplementary Budget II.
The CoB has completed approving the budget for the National Government, a month into the 2025/2026 financial year. The CoB has also expressed concern over the non-compliance in submitting budgets for approval, saying it is a violation of the law. Governors have previously accused the National Treasury of failing to disburse funds on time, which they claim has affected their activities.
The epaper headline might read: "County Budget Woes persist as Deadline Looms, While National Budget Approval Complete". The finance article could state: "Meanwhile, in the business of county finances, counties across Kenya continue to struggle with budget approval, as deadlines approach, while the National Government's epaper budget for the 2025/2026 financial year has already been completed by the Controller of Budget (CoB)."
