Counties will receive Ksh415 billion in equitable share for the 2025/26 financial year following successful mediation on the 2025 Division of Revenue Bill.  

An 18-member committee comprising Senate and National Assembly members brokered the deal after a deadlock threatened to paralyse county operations.

The breakthrough resolved a standoff where senators had approved Sh465 billion while the National Assembly backed Ksh405.1 billion for the 47 devolved regions.  

During negotiations, senators made significant concessions, reducing their proposal by Ksh50 billion, while the National Assembly increased theirs by just Ksh10 billion to reach the compromise figure.

“We have negotiated behind the scenes, and we now have a figure. We have settled on Ksh415 billion to be allocated to counties,” said National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee member Samuel Atandi (Alego Usonga).

The Senate will now process the 2025 County Allocation of Revenue Bill, determining individual county allocations for the next 12 months. Funds will begin transferring from July 1.

Governors express frustration

The Council of Governors (CoG) dismissed the mediation as tokenism, accusing the national government of sidelining their input.

CoG chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) argued that despite transferring over 200 functions worth about Ksh150 billion to counties, these responsibilities aren’t adequately reflected in revenue-sharing formulas.

“[Governors] had proposed Ksh536 billion as the equitable revenue share for counties,” Abdullahi stated, highlighting the significant gap between their request and the final allocation.

Governors criticised both the national government and the Senate for what they termed inadequate support.  

“It loses all meaning if the national government unilaterally decides county allocations. Our input must be meaningful, not ceremonial,” Abdullahi added.