Kenya Senate Report Exposes Widespread Failures in County Development Spending

NAIROBI,Kenya Aug 7 Only six counties met the legal threshold for development spending in the 2024/25 financial year, exposing widespread failures by devolved units to channel public funds into projects that directly improve the lives of residents, a new Senate report has revealed. The findings are contained in the inaugural County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index (CFPMI), a scientific assessment developed by the Senate’s Parliamentary Budget Office that evaluates how counties manage public finances using objective fiscal indicators rather than political opinion. The report measures counties against the Public Finance Management Act, which requires county governments to allocate at least 30 per cent of their budgets to development expenditure, with the remainder going towards recurrent costs such as salaries and operations. According to the report, Kwale, Embu, Kericho, Mandera, Siaya and Uasin Gishu were the only counties to attain an “A” grade after exceeding the statutory development spending threshold while demonstrating strong fiscal discipline. Kwale emerged as the top performer with a perfect development expenditure score of 1.000, followed by Embu (0.916), Kericho (0.849), Mandera (0.815), Siaya (0.814) and Uasin Gishu (0.813). The Parliamentary Budget Office said the six counties distinguished themselves by consistently prioritising long-term investment in infrastructure and public services while maintaining prudent financial management. “These counties exemplify prudent fiscal management, with a deliberate focus on long-term investments that enhance service delivery and spur economic growth,” the report says. However, the report paints a worrying picture for the majority of counties. Only seven counties were classified as moderate performers after narrowly missing the constitutional benchmark, while 27 counties fell into the “D” category, indicating they allocated well below the required 30 per cent of their budgets to development projects. The report also identified seven counties as the country’s poorest performers, having dedicated less than 15 per cent of their budgets to development expenditure. They include Nandi, Vihiga, Kisumu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nairobi City, Nyamira and Taita Taveta. Taita Taveta recorded the weakest performance after allocating just 7.82 per cent of its budget to development, earning the lowest score nationally. Nairobi City also remained among the worst performers for a second consecutive year, reflecting what the report describes as persistent structural weaknesses, high recurrent expenditure and limited fiscal space for development projects. The report further notes that counties previously considered moderate performers have slipped backwards, signalling declining adherence to fiscal responsibility principles and increased pressure from recurrent expenditure. Speaking during the launch at Parliament Buildings, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot described the report as the first objective tool that removes politics from debates on county performance. “This is pure science. It is not generated by Parliament or by any senator. It is based on data from independent constitutional institutions,” Cheruiyot said. He said the scorecard would raise the quality of debate in the Senate by replacing opinion with evidence. “For years we have discussed governors based on political affiliations. If you were friends with a governor, you praised them. If you opposed them, you criticised them. This report now gives us facts.” Cheruiyot also expressed concern over the low level of development spending across counties, saying the trend undermines the spirit of devolution. “It should concern every senator that only a small proportion of county resources eventually goes into development projects. That means less money for roads, health facilities, water projects and other services wananchi expect.” Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said the index addresses a long-standing gap in measuring county performance