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All the 47 County governments will receive an additional allocation of Sh55.4 billion in the next financial year if Parliament approves the County government’s Additional Allocations Bill, 2024.

This even as the Senate is considering the Division of Revenue Bill 2024, which contains the equitable share of revenue to counties and the national government.

The Bill drafted by the National Treasury and sponsored by Senate Finance and Budget Committee chair Ali Roba (Mandera) seeks to allocate grants and loans from the national government and other development partners to the devolved units.

“The principal objective of this Bill is to make provision for the transfer of conditional allocations from national governments share of revenue and from development partners to the county governments for the financial year 2024-25,” the Bill states.

The proposed law, which has been published for introduction in the Senate for first reading, has proposals that would push the total allocation to the devolved units for the financial year 2024-2025 to at least Sh446.4 billion.

Unconditional grants

This is after the National Assembly approved an allocation of Sh391 billion as equitable share to counties for 2024-25 financial year.

In the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill, 2024, the counties will get Sh10.52 billion as Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) and a further Sh8.21billion as conditional grants from the national government. The devolved units are also set to get Sh35.65billion from proceeds of loans and grants from development partners with another Sh1.06 billion unconditional grants from court fines and 20 per cent share of mineral royalties.

In the Bill, some Sh1.06 billion has been allocated to 21 County Governments for Unconditional Additional grant from Court Fines and 20 per cent Share of Mineral Royalties. They include Kilifi (Sh177.53 million), Kajiado (Sh160.22 million), Kwale (Sh674million), Garissa (Sh621 million), Kiambu (Sh532million), Nandi (Sh17 million) and Taita Taveta  (Sh8 million).

The Bill states that all the grants from the national government include Sh4.5billion for construction of county aggregation and industrial parks and a further Sh445million supplement for construction of headquarters in some five counties.

 Additionally, some Sh3.2billion has been allocated for payment of community health promoters as grants from the national government and Sh30.18million for performance of the newly devolved museum function.

The counties will also get Sh1.5 billion from World Bank for Food Systems Resilience Project, Sh5 billion for water and sanitation development programme and Sh1.76 billion for Kenya Devolution Support Programme.

Locusts invasion response

The devolved units will get Sh487.50 million from Danida for provision and promotion of primary health care and Sh10.6 billion from the World Bank for Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project (KISIP).

Others are Sh1.9 billion from World Bank for emergency locust response, Sh1.2 billion from German Development Bank for Local Action Climate programme and Sh3billion from the World Bank for Climate Resilience Investment Grant.

The devolved units will also get Sh1.57 billion from the World Bank or Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP), Sh378 million from Investment Fund for Agricultural Development – Kenya Livestock Commercialisation Project.

“Additional allocations shall constitute funds agreed upon by the National Assembly and the Senate during the consideration of the Budget Policy Statement,” the Bill reads in part.

Biggest beneficiary

 In the bill, Nyandarua county government is set to get the highest amount of grants from the national government of Sh410 million followed by Kakamega and Kilifi which will get Sh377 million and Sh366 million respectively.

 All the 47 county governments will benefit from the Sh10 billion RMLF with Kitui getting the lion’s share of Sh445 million, Makueni (Sh415 million), Machakos (Sh314 million), Nairobi (Sh351 million), Kajiado (Sh307 million) and Kiambu (Sh335 million) respectively.

 “Each county treasury shall reflect all transfers of conditional allocations by the national government to the respective county government in its books of accounts,” the report states in part.

 The development partners include World Bank, Danish International Development Agency, German Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).