Members of Kenya’s National Assembly on Tuesday began debating a bill that would substantially increase funding for county governments in the 2024/25 fiscal year.
The Division of Revenue Bill proposes allocating KES 391.1 billion to county governments – a 24.9% share of audited national revenues for 2020/21 totaling KES 1.57 trillion.
This equitable share for counties is significantly above the 15% constitutional threshold, Budget Committee Chairperson Ndindi Nyoro told parliament.
“This goes to show that the government led by President William Ruto supports devolution, and that is why we keep on adding the shareable revenue that enables dispensation of services in our counties,” Nyoro said.
He said county governors had asked for even more funding given their expanding responsibilities under Kenya’s devolved system of government.
Opposition MP Mary Emaase, who seconded the bill, criticized the formulae used to allocate funds to marginalized areas from the Equalization Fund.
“When you look at the distribution to marginalized areas, it is not equitable,” she said, calling for a review of the 0.5% allocation formula.
Emaase also urged the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) to agree with the Treasury on county allocations before the Division of Revenue Bill is tabled in parliament.
“By the time the CRA recommends resource allocation, a lot of research has gone into it, so they should get into concurrence with the Treasury so we don’t go into mediation as has been the norm,” she said.
Some MPs questioned whether county governments were using funds efficiently and having the desired development impacts since devolution began in 2013 after elections.
“We are almost at the end of the financial year and we haven’t yet got 50% of the money allocated to NG-CDF (National Government Constituencies Development Fund). Will we manage to do what it was meant for?” asked Andrew Okuome.
The increased county funding allocations proposed in the Division of Revenue Bill 2024 aim to accelerate service delivery in devolved sectors like health, agriculture and infrastructure.
But MPs insisted implementation must improve, with better accountability over how funds are spent by county administrations.
The debate is expected to continue over the coming days, with parliament set to approve the final county revenue-sharing plan before going on recess.
