President William Ruto has assented to the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2026, paving the way for county governments to receive Ksh428 billion as their equitable share of nationally raised revenue.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The President signed the Bill into law at the State House, Nairobi, marking a major step in the implementation of the 2026/2027 budget and strengthening the country’s devolved system of governance.

According to the new law, the Ksh 428 billion allocation represents 20.9 per cent of the most recently audited national revenue, significantly above the 15 per cent minimum allocation to countries required under the constitution.

The funds are now to be distributed among the 47 county governments using the revenue-sharing formula approved under Article 217 of the Constitution.

📌 What You Need to Know

Ruto said the allocation represents an increase of Ksh13 billion from the Ksh415 billion counties received in the 2025/26 financial year and accounts for 21 per cent of the most recent audited national revenue, exceeding the constitutional minimum requirement of 15 per cent.

While the allocation signals a comparative boost for counties, it falls short of the proposal issued by the Council of Governors (CoG) in March when the Bill was under consideration by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget.

The report considers several factors, including equal share, population size, poverty levels, and geographical location, to ensure equitable distribution of resources according to counties. The State House adopted the formula, which also provides counties with a stable baseline allocation while ensuring fairness in the sharing of national revenue.

The government additionally said the enhanced allocation is expected to strengthen devolution by equipping county governments with adequate resources to fulfil their constitutional responsibilities and implement development priorities contained in their budgets.

By assenting to the Bill, President Ruto has now cleared the way for the National Treasury to begin processing county disbursements under the new financial year framework.

Further, the governors were pushing for higher budget allocations to counties, calling on the National Treasury to allocate Ksh534 billion.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke