27 counties put on notice over low development spending

County governments came under scrutiny on Thursday as the Senate assessed how devolved units have utilised public resources during the County Fiscal Performance Measurement Ceremony held at Parliament.

Twenty-seven counties were flagged for failing to allocate adequate funding to development projects, with Senate Speaker Amason Kingi accusing the affected administrations of prioritising recurrent expenditure over service delivery.

"We must ensure that resources given to you Governors are used according to the law..." Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said.

According to the County Fiscal Performance Measurement Report for the 2024/2025 financial year, Nairobi County emerged as the top performer in development spending under Governor Johnson Sakaja.

Turkana County ranked second after spending Ksh.4.2 billion on development projects during the period under review.

Mandera and Kwale counties also exceeded the recommended 35 per cent development expenditure threshold.

Narok County, under Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu, also surpassed the benchmark after spending Ksh.3.5 billion on development.

Kiambu, Nakuru, Kitui and Wajir completed the list of the top 10 counties with the highest development expenditure.

The report further raised concerns over counties' own-source revenue collection, noting that the majority of devolved units continue to struggle to raise local revenue, increasing their dependence on equitable share allocations from the national government.