Kenya’s county governments spent billions of shillings on development
projects in the 2024/25 financial year, with Kilifi, Turkana, and Nairobi
emerging as the top spenders, according to the latest Controller of Budget
(CoB) report.
The review shows that Kilifi led the pack with
Sh6.71 billion, followed by Turkana (Sh4.29 billion), Nairobi (Sh4.09 billion),
Mandera (Sh4.07 billion), Narok (Sh3.96 billion), Nakuru (Sh3.94 billion), and
Kitui (Sh3.28 billion).
Together, these counties accounted for a large share of the Sh123.7 billion
spent on development nationally.
Nairobi’s Sh4.09 billion allocation marked a
50.6 per cent increase from Sh2.72 billion in 2023/24, underlining Governor
Johnson Sakaja’s focus on balancing service delivery with capital investments.
The spending represented 12 per cent
of the county’s total budget but translated to one of the highest development
expenditures in absolute terms.
Ward Development Programmes received the
lion’s share at Sh1.95 billion across all 85 wards, with Sh834 million already
absorbed by June 2025 for projects ranging from roads and water supply to
social amenities.
Slum upgrading under the Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project
(KISIP II) was allocated Sh366 million for roads, drainage, and tenure
security.
City Hall also pumped Sh263 million into
trucks and equipment, more than Sh500 million into road maintenance and street
lighting, Sh118 million for the digitalization of County Assembly services, and
Sh111 million towards completing the Mutuini Market in Dagoretti South.
Governor Sakaja defended the county’s
development allocation, noting that while Nairobi is primarily service-driven,
its Sh43 billion budget still enabled significant investments in
infrastructure.
“Remember, we are a service-driven county. The
entire portion of the equitable share is channeled to personnel, recurrent
operations, and essential services such as the school feeding programme, public
lighting, solid waste management, personnel-related insurance costs, bursaries,
and scholarships. The county relies heavily on own-source revenue to finance
both development and operational expenses,” he said.
Nationally, counties generated Sh67.30 billion
from own-source revenue during the reporting period, representing 77 per cent
of the annual target of Sh87.67 billion. This was a significant jump from
Sh41.40 billion raised in FY 2023/24.
The CoB report highlights that the surge in
development expenditure across counties reflects a renewed commitment to
infrastructure, social amenities, and grassroots growth.
