Members of Parliament (MPs) and senators have finally reached a consensus over the shareable revenue allocation to the counties in the financial year 2025/2026.

In a statement on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, the mediation committee confirmed settling on a final agreement on a Ksh415 billion allocation for the County Equitable Share for the Financial Year 2025/26, marking a crucial step in finalising the national budget and ensuring fair and equitable distribution of resources for the upcoming financial year.

The breakthrough follows extensive deliberations during the fourth meeting of the committee, which included separate sessions with representatives from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

Increased funding for counties

The new allocation of Ksh415 billion is a significant increase compared to the Ksh387.4 billion allocated for the financial year 2024/25, reflecting a Ksh27.6 billion rise in funding for the counties.

Additionally, the agreed-upon figure marks a Ksh10 billion increase from the National Treasury’s initial proposal of Ksh405.1 billion.

The consensus follows after a long-standing impasse that saw the MPs and senators fail to harmonise their proposals, which had a difference of close to Ksh60 billion.

The National Assembly proposed that the counties be allocated Kshs405.1 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year, while the Senate wants the devolved units to be allocated Ksh465 billion.

In a meeting on Monday, June 16, 2025, Mandera Senator Ali Roba argued that the counties should be allocated Ksh435 billion as shareable revenue in a compromise agreement.

Roba and the senators argued that all additional functions transferred from the national government to county governments should be accompanied by the necessary funding to ensure that counties are adequately resourced.

However, Alego Usonga MP and Budget’s chairman Sam Atandi, in a dissenting stance, countered that it would be hard to allocate Kshs435 billion to counties given the current financial constraints experienced in the economy.

His counterparts in the National Assembly had submitted that since the Finance Bill 2025 is not generating much revenue for the country, it would be catastrophic to allocate more money to counties, which we do not currently have.

The mediated version of the bill will now be tabled in both the Senate and the National Assembly for debate and subsequent passage.

The National Assembly is expected to introduce the bill on the floor this Wednesday, June 18, 2025.