NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 28 — Every year, billions of shillings flow from the national government to Kenya’s forty-seven counties, supplemented by money raised locally.The funds are meant to pay doctors and nurses, maintain roads, provide water, support farmers, run markets and deliver other services assigned to counties under the Constitution.But between the moment money is allocated and the moment a resident sees a completed road, a stocked hospital or a functioning water system lies a complicated chain of budgets, transfers, procurement, salaries and implementation decisions.For the 2025/26 financial year, counties were allocated Sh415 billion as equitable share of revenue raised nationally. The figure is contained in the enacted Division of Revenue Act, making it the baseline transfer available to counties from nationally raised revenue.The 2025/26 county budgets also incorporated additional conditional allocations from the national government and development partners, alongside money counties expected to raise themselves.The Controller of Budget’s first-quarter review put the combined approved county budgets at Sh603.72 billion.Of this, Sh217.80 billion, or 36 per cent, was budgeted for development while Sh385.92 billion, or 64 per cent, was for recurrent expenditure.The counties expected to finance those budgets through the Sh415 billion equitable share, Sh93.89 billion in own-source revenue, Sh68.21 billion in additional conditional allocations and Sh26.62 billion in unspent funds carried forward from the previous financial year.But an allocation in a budget is not the same thing as cash already sitting in a county account.The fourth revenue-sharing basis, covering 2025/26 to 2029/30, assigns 42 per cent to population, 22 per cent to an equal-share component, 14 per cent to poverty, 13 per cent to income distance and 9 per cent to geographical size.Population receives the largest weight because many county responsibilities are directly related to the number of people requiring services.But geography also matters. A large county such as Turkana or Marsabit faces different costs of reaching residents spread across vast distances than a densely populated urban county.The equal-share component, meanwhile, ensures every county has a basic allocation for functions that all counties must perform regardless of population size.The formula therefore attempts to balance population, basic administrative needs, poverty, geography and economic disparities rather than simply rewarding counties with larger populations.This is where the distinction between recurrent and development spending becomes important.Recurrent expenditure pays for the day-to-day running of government – salaries, allowances, utilities, supplies, operations and maintenance.Development expenditure finances projects intended to create or improve infrastructure and other assets.For 2025/26, counties collectively budgeted 64 per cent for recurrent expenditure and 36 per cent for development, putting the development allocation above the statutory minimum of 30 per cent.But the recurrent side includes the people who deliver many of the services residents expect.A county hospital cannot operate without doctors, nurses, clinical officers, laboratory staff and support workers.Agricultural programmes require extension officers. Roads and public works require engineers and technical personnel.It is whether the balance between personnel costs, operations and development leaves enough money to improve services and infrastructure.Turkana County offers a useful illustration. Its 2025/26 budget of Sh17.56 billion allocated Sh11.12 billion, or 63.34 per cent, to recurrent expenditure and Sh6.44 billion, or 36.66 per cent, to development.The county also budgeted Sh5.81 billion for personnel emoluments, equivalent to about a third of the total budget.That means a resident looking at Turkana’s development budget should not assume that the entire Sh17.56 billion is available for new roads, water projects, health facilities or other visible investments.For many citizens, the most visible test of a county budget is the local health facility.County governments are responsible for county health services, including county hospitals, health Centres and dispensaries.CRA analysis of historical county spending found that counties, on average, allocated 25.3 per cent of their resources to health and 8 per cent to agriculture, rural and urban development.But the Commission makes an important distinction: revenue-sharing formulas determine how money is distributed between counties; they do not dictate exactly how each county must spend its entire equitable share.That means two counties receiving similar amounts can make very different spending decisions.Makueni provides an example of how a budget line can be followed to a specific health facility. In its 2025/26 budget, Sh2.11 million was set aside for construction and equipping of a laboratory at Kathonzweni Health Centre.
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