NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 6 – Embu has been ranked Kenya’s best-performing county in the 2024/25 financial year, while Kisumu emerged as the worst performer, according to the Senate’s inaugural County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index (CFPMI), a new scorecard that exposes wide disparities in how county governments manage public finances.

📻 Breaking It Down

The report, launched on Thursday by the Senate, awarded Embu an overall CFPMI score of 0.689, taking the top position, followed by Narok and Wajir, thereby expanding the number of counties attaining the highest performance grade from two in the previous financial year to three.

At the other end of the scale, Kisumu ranked last, highlighting persistent fiscal management challenges despite years of increased allocations to county governments.

The report notes that the 2024/25 results reflect significant shifts in county fiscal performance compared to FY2023/24, with improvements in fiscal discipline in some counties and continued weaknesses in others.

📌 What You Need to Know

Overall, 35 counties attained a “C” grade, signalling gradual but positive progress in budget execution and fiscal management, although several counties remained constrained by structural, governance and resource management challenges.

The County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index, developed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, measures counties using seven indicators: development expenditure, own-source revenue, expenditure on wages and benefits, pending bills, audit opinions, budget implementation and county assembly expenditure.

The tool is intended to provide the Senate with an objective framework for monitoring county governments’ adherence to public finance management principles.

Launching the report, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi described the index as a landmark publication that would fundamentally change how the House exercises oversight over county governments.

“The County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index is much more than a publication. It is a practical, evidence-based instrument for assessing county governments’ adherence to the fiscal responsibility principles enshrined in the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and the County Governments Act,” Kingi said.

He said the Senate had for years lacked a scientific framework for measuring county performance, making oversight largely dependent on fragmented reports and political opinion.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya