Senators turn heat on governors over CoB report exposing huge wage bills, stalled projects

Senators have criticised governors over an expose by the Controller of Budget on county bad governance, financial mismanagement and bloated wages. 

 The report by Margaret Nyakang’o exposes runaway wage bills, stalled development projects and massive spending on travel and operations at the expense of essential services.

 The lawmakers accused county chiefs of abandoning the core promise of devolution and prioritising political interests over services.

 “The Controller of Budget is just confirming the obvious. Our counties lack efficient and transparent implementation of county projects,” Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni said.

 The lawmakers warned that counties are increasingly becoming centres of wasteful expenditure rather than engines of development.

 The criticism follows the release of the County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report for the first nine months of the 2025-26 financial year.

 Among other revelations, the report shows 41 of the 47 counties breached the legal limit on expenditure for salaries and employee benefits.

 The CoB reported counties received Sh388.37 billion during the review period but spent Sh171.36 billion on employee compensation alone, translating to a wage-to-revenue ratio of 44 per cent — well above the statutory ceiling of 35 per cent.

 Nyakang’o said personnel costs continued to consume a significant portion of resources, leaving little room for development projects.

 The report further revealed that counties spent only Sh72.07 billion out of an annual development budget of Sh234.33 billion, resulting in a development absorption rate of just 31 per cent.

 Omogeni said the findings merely confirmed what many Kenyans have long suspected about county governments.

 “Governors literally don't care about strong budget absorption on development. Their focus is to turn counties into employment bureaus to advance selfish political ends,” Omogeni said.

 He faulted governors for allocating huge portions of county budgets to salaries, allowances and administrative expenses while neglecting key sectors such as healthcare, roads and water provision.

 “Sadly, no emphasis is placed on investing in health facilities, tarmacking roads and giving residents piped water instead of just drilling boreholes. Corruption is also suffocating counties,” he said.

 Omogeni called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate corruption in county governments.

 Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, however, said the ballooning wage bill was a national challenge that extended beyond county governments.

 “On the wage bill, this is a major challenge not only to county governments but even the national government. This is a national crisis and must be tackled,” Osotsi said.

 He said counties must continue to shoulder functions that have not been fully transferred and funded by the national government, particularly in the health sector.

 “The health sector takes a huge percentage of county workers, yet it remains largely underfunded due to partial transfer of functions and resources,” he said.

 Osotsi added that delayed disbursement of funds from the National Treasury had contributed significantly to stalled projects and low absorption rates.

 “The stalling of projects and under-absorption is a symptom of other factors such as corruption, poor budget discipline and delayed disbursements. On delayed disbursements, the Treasury and the Controller of Budget should share the blame,” he said.

 Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei described the situation as a crisis that requires urgent national attention.

 “Our counties are in big trouble. Governors have upside-down priorities. They don't care about the people anymore,” he said.

 “That is why they are travelling all over the world while projects meant to benefit wananchi remain incomplete. This is a crisis we need to talk about.”

  “Governors are the biggest threat to devolution,” Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua said.

 The report paints a grim picture of spending priorities across counties.

 While billions were spent on salaries, travel and operations, at least 237 development projects worth Sh13.66 billion stalled in 22 counties.

 Kilifi recorded the highest number of stalled projects at 68, followed by Machakos with 54 and Baringo with 24.

 Counties also spent a combined Sh13.17 billion on domestic and foreign travel during the review period and another Sh88.22 billion on operations and maintenance.

 Nyakang’o warned that stalled projects undermine service delivery and expose public funds to wastage, urging counties to complete current projects instead of launching new ones.