Governors sound alarm as pending bills balloon to Sh172 billion

Counties are facing growing pressure over delayed funding, shrinking donor support and mounting unpaid bills, even as governors highlight key progress made through devolution in the past year.

Speaking during the annual 'State of Devolution' address on Thursday, Council of Governors (CoG) chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi outlined the gains made in key devolved sectors, including health, agriculture, water and transport, but warned that serious financial constraints had slowed or disrupted many services.

“Despite the strides made, service delivery was hindered by delays in exchequer releases and fluctuations in donor funding,” said Ahmed.

The Wajir governor revealed that counties went for several months without receiving allocations from the National Treasury, severely affecting basic operations and essential services in many regions.

He noted that unpaid bills had reached Sh172.51 billion by the end of the financial year, with Nairobi County alone accounting for Sh115.69 billion — nearly 70 per cent of the total.

“The accumulation of pending bills is largely due to delays in the disbursement of funds by the National Treasury,” he said.

Despite the financial bottlenecks, Abdullahi listed several achievements across key sectors.

In the health sector, he reported that 24.4 million Kenyans had been registered under the Social Health Authority (SHA), allowing them to access free care at primary health care (PHC) facilities.

As of the end of 2024, a total of 9,365 public health facilities — representing 78 per cent — had been empanelled under the new scheme. This marked an increase of 594 facilities compared to the previous National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) system.

Public health facilities have so far received Sh12.7 billion out of the Sh35.66 billion disbursed through the authority. The rest of the funds have gone to private providers (48.8 per cent) and faith-based facilities (15.6 per cent).

Under the Primary Health Care Fund, Sh5.9 billion has been paid out, with 54 per cent going to public health facilities. However, Ahmed said that not all PHC facilities had received payments despite submitting claims.

“Despite improved disbursement, some PHC facilities have yet to receive payments after submitting claims,” he noted.

The governor also said 1,544 licensed facilities are still lacking tablets required to process health claims electronically, and urged the Ministry of Health to fast-track the delivery of the devices.

To support counties in managing human resources in health, the CoG is requesting an annual allocation of Sh7.8 billion from the Ministry of Health to facilitate the transfer of 8,287 Universal Health Coverage staff to county payrolls, in line with guidelines by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

He added that counties had already received 8,316 tablets to support health digitisation efforts, improve information systems, and ease registration and claims processing.

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On agriculture, Abdullahi said the sector recorded a 4.4 per cent growth in Gross Value Added, reaching Sh1.71 trillion. Although this was lower than the previous year’s 7.1 per cent growth, the sector created more than 308,000 new jobs, with 90 per cent of them in the informal economy. Of the total new jobs, 14.1 per cent were in the private sector.

Despite the challenges, the CoG reiterated its commitment to deepening the impact of devolution and called for timely and predictable funding from the national government to ensure continuity of services across counties.