Governors have rejected a Sh440 billion allocation proposed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) for counties in the 2027/28 financial year, demanding at least Sh500 billion to sustain service delivery and meet rising wage bills.
The Council of Governors (CoG) says the proposed allocation is inadequate to finance salary increments recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), address health workers’ demands and cater for other devolved functions.
The governors want CRA to reconsider its recommendation and push for a higher equitable share for the 47 counties.
The demand emerged during a consultative meeting between CoG and CRA in Nairobi on Wednesday morning, where governors questioned the commission’s reliance on older audited financial statements to determine the amount of revenue allocated to counties.
CoG chairman and Tharaka-Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki accused the National Treasury and CRA of “mischief”.
Njuki claimed the Treasury is using outdated accounts to limit the resources available to devolved units, arguing that the approach failed to reflect the growth in national revenue and the actual cost of running county governments.
“How do you use audited accounts of the year 2022/23 when we are allocating resources for 2027/28, almost five years later?” Njuki posed. “It practically means we do not have any audited accounts of the Kenya-Kwanza administration.”
He said using the figures amounted to disregarding more recent revenue performance, insisting that the allocation should reflect the actual needs of counties and the resources available to the national government.
Njuki said counties required an additional Sh21 billion to implement salary increments recommended by the SRC, another Sh2 billion to address the needs of doctors, nurses, clinical officers and other health workers, and Sh8.6 billion for university staff.
He warned that failure to adequately finance salary obligations could trigger industrial unrest, disrupting essential services and undermining devolution.
“If the medics are not on the streets, teachers are. If teachers are not on the streets, then the lecturers of universities are,” he said.
The governor accused the government of making promises it could not honour, arguing that salary commitments must be matched with available resources to avoid recurring strikes. “We have to strike a balance between those promises and the resources. We have to be candid in our conversation, in what we agree,” he said.
For the unbundled functions for which counties require Sh65 billion to implement, the county bosses said they would accept at least a half of the amount to absorb the roles.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa backed the call, urging CRA to adopt an activity-based approach that considers the actual cost of delivering services rather than relying on historical financial statements.
“The 15 per cent, as per the Constitution, has nothing to do with revenue growth,” Barasa said, arguing that the figures did not reflect more recent revenue performance.
He further accused the National Treasury of deliberately relying on outdated accounts to constrain allocations to counties, despite more recent financial statements being available or undergoing audit. “Because it is a safeguard to frustrate the amount going to counties when we have an increase in revenues,” she said.
Barasa urged CRA to consider the financial implications of staffing and industrial unrest, warning county services would grind to a halt whenever workers downed their tools.
CRA on their part said they will consider the proposals by governors.
