County governments have been put on notice after a new Senate report found they failed to meet the legal threshold for development spending in the 2024/2025 financial year.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The findings were revealed in the inaugural County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index (CFPMI), which was launched at Parliament on Thursday, August 6, to evaluate how counties manage public finances.

According to the report, 27 counties failed to meet the recommended 35 per cent development expenditure threshold.

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi faulted the affected county governments for allocating a larger share of resources to recurrent expenditure instead of development projects as required under the Public Finance Management Act.

📌 What You Need to Know

He said devolved funds must be spent in accordance with the law to ensure they deliver tangible benefits to citizens.

“We must ensure that resources given to you, Governors, are used according to the law,” the speaker stated during the event.

The report assessed all 47 counties using indicators including development expenditure, budget implementation, own-source revenue, absorption rates and audit outcomes.

According to the report, Nairobi County was the best performer in development spending during the period under review.

Turkana ranked second after spending Ksh4.2 billion on development projects, while Mandera, Kwale and Narok also exceeded the recommended development expenditure threshold.

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

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke