Nairobi tops pending bills as counties struggle to cut debt despite massive payments - CoB
According to the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o, some counties continue to struggle with implementing agreed repayment plans.
Counties paid out Sh34 billion in pending bills between July 2024 and March 2025, but their total debt only decreased by Sh9.4 billion due to the continued accumulation of new bills, according to the Controller of Budget (CoB), Margaret Nyakang’o.
In a report, Nyakang’o noted that the Sh34 billion paid over the nine months had minimal impact after some counties added new unpaid bills during the same period. However, total pending bills had declined from Sh181.9 billion in June 2024 to Sh172.5 billion by the end of March 2025.
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Nairobi City leads with the largest stock of pending bills at Sh115.69 billion, followed by Kiambu (Sh5.6 billion), Machakos (Sh4.63 billion), Mombasa (Sh3.43 billion), Garissa (Sh2.62 billion), Kisii (Sh2.56 billion), Bungoma (Sh2.5 billion), Kisumu (Sh2.24 billion), and Busia (Sh2.04 billion).
Nairobi also topped the list in terms of payments, having settled Sh5.9 billion in pending bills, followed by Turkana (Sh2.69 billion) and Bungoma (Sh2 billion). Kilifi and Kwale paid Sh1.47 billion and Sh1.36 billion, respectively. Other notable payments were made by Machakos (Sh1.29 billion), Migori (Sh1.22 billion), Kiambu (Sh1.2 billion), Homa Bay (Sh1.15 billion), Kisumu (Sh1.09 billion) and Mombasa (Sh1.02 billion).
Nyakang’o highlighted that several counties failed to adhere to their payment plans, which each county submitted in July 2024, citing delays in disbursing the equitable share of nationally raised revenue and underperformance in own-source revenue (OSR) as key factors. The top 11 performing counties accounted for Sh20.4 billion of the Sh34 billion paid, representing 59.9 per cent of total payments.
Despite these efforts, Nyakang’o warned that the measures remain insufficient to address the growing debt burden. She advised counties to avoid making financial commitments late in the financial year and recommended that counties set achievable revenue targets and prioritise payments for already completed projects.
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