Mudavadi urges county govts to cut reliance on national funding
By Kenneth Mwenda, October 7, 2025Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has asked county governments to reduce their dependence on national allocations and focus on growing their own revenue.
Speaking on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, during the launch of the Capacity Building Programme for County Governments on Economic Planning in Busia County, Mudavadi said most counties had neglected their responsibility to strengthen own-source revenue.
He warned that continued reliance on the National Treasury undermines the financial independence of devolved units.
“Several counties have abandoned working on their own source revenues and are becoming totally dependent on the national share. So who is undermining the independence of counties, the national government or those in counties who have slackened on their own revenue aspect?” he asked.
Mudavadi said data from the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) shows that in some instances counties collect less local revenue than what municipal councils raised before devolution.
“I speak as a former Minister for Local Government and Finance. If this is not addressed, counties will remain dependent on the national government. And let’s face it, it will reach a stage where he who pays the piper calls the tune,” he added.
He urged governors to pull up their socks and invest in credible data collection and management to improve accountability and planning.
Funding hurdles
His remarks come a week after governors raised complaints over delayed reimbursements from the Social Health Authority (SHA) and challenges in the rollout of the government’s electronic procurement system (e-GP).
During the 28th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) in Nairobi on September 29, the Council of Governors (CoG) directed SHA to settle Ksh10.3 billion owed to counties in outstanding health claims. The leaders said the delays had disrupted services and strained public hospitals.
CoG chair Ahmed Abdullahi also criticised the e-procurement rollout, saying it had paralysed some county operations, delayed salary payments and hindered fuel purchases for essential services.
“This quarter has been disastrous. We have not been able to spend money at all because of the challenges we’ve had,” Abdullahi told the meeting.