Controller of Budget Stories

Counties face tightened oversight as Controller of Budget gains access to bank accounts
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 30, 2025

The reform introduces a new layer of oversight over county finances, allowing the budget controller to track cash movements and flag questionable acti...

Senators push for real-time access to county bank accounts amid Auditor-General warnings
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 25, 2025

Beyond real-time access, senators also directed the National Treasury to work with the Auditor-General’s office to conduct a comprehensive audit of al...

IEBC decries Sh57.3 billion allocation as inadequate for 2027 General Election
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 25, 2025

IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan said the commission had initially projected Sh61.7 billion for the polls, but the Treasury reduced the figure to Sh57.3...

No new levies in 2026 budget as Treasury focuses on improving revenue efficiency
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 25, 2025

Revenue for the coming financial year is projected at Sh3.58 trillion, while planned expenditure is Sh4.64 trillion, leaving a Sh1 trillion budget gap...

CoB Nyakang’o warns counties over heavy reliance on hospital fees, urges revenue diversification
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 24, 2025

Nyakang'o noted that while facility improvement funds helped offset some shortfalls, overreliance on health revenues leaves counties vulnerable to fis...

Nairobi leads August revenue allocation as counties receive Sh33.2 billion
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 23, 2025

The disbursement follows the approval of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2025, which outlines how Sh415 billion of national revenue will be dis...

Contractors, suppliers on the brink as pending bills mount to Sh177 billion
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 23, 2025

Nairobi alone owes Sh62.38 billion in long-standing bills. Yet, in the past year, City Hall piled on Sh12.6 billion in fresh arrears, compounding the...

Counties lean on hospital fees to sustain operations as unpaid claims soar
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 23, 2025

Several counties exceeded their annual revenue targets, with Kisii collecting Sh982 million (178 per cent), Mandera and Wajir at 123 per cent, and Kir...

Nairobi hospitals fully absorb funds, boosting services in new health reforms
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 23, 2025

This milestone reflects disciplined financial management and better service delivery at key hospitals, including Mbagathi, Mama Lucy, Pumwani, and Mam...

Nyakang’o blasts counties over Sh125 billion revenue arrears, calls for urgent action
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 22, 2025

Nyakang’o said the arrears, which include billions owed in land rates, house rent and health fund contributions, risk crippling devolved functions if...

Controller of Budget pushes to list counties’ pending bills more than a year old as public debt
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 21, 2025

Nyakang’o said leaving unpaid bills outside the legal definition of public debt has allowed counties to accumulate dues uncontrollably, threatening pr...

Counties warned over dependence on Treasury amid untapped income streams
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 21, 2025

Nyakang’o said the persistent neglect of these streams has left most counties vulnerable to salary delays and service disruptions whenever Treasury di...

Governors, MCAs spent Sh16 billion on travel in one year, says CoB Margaret Nyakang’o
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 20, 2025

The report by Margaret Nyakang’o shows that Sh14.22 billion went to domestic travel, while another Sh2.01 billion was used on international trips.

16 counties on the spot for failing to pay staff despite receiving full Treasury funds
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 20, 2025

The wage bill continues to strain devolved units. Counties spent Sh220.6 billion on salaries and allowances in the year, a rise from Sh209.8 billion t...

CoB flags poor utilisation of development funds in counties, says only 12 met threshold
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 20, 2025

The figures point to an imbalance in county spending, with Sh346.98 billion, or 74 per cent of the overall Sh470.74 billion used for recurrent expendi...

CoB: Billions in potential revenue lost amid weak enforcement in counties
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 20, 2025

The review for the financial year ending June 30, 2025, reveals that counties fell short of their own-source revenue (OSR) targets by 23 per cent, lea...

CoB Margaret Nyakang’o admits error in Homa Bay County bank accounts report
Rachael Mutabasi  |  Sep 19, 2025

She added that the correction will be reflected in a revised edition of the Annual CGBIRR for 2024/25 to “maintain the integrity and accuracy of the p...

County own-source revenues under pressure as Siaya posts lowest performance
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 19, 2025

CoB Margaret Nyakang’o highlighted that heavy dependence on hospitals, which make up a large portion of revenue, coupled with arrears of Sh124.95 bill...

CoB Margaret Nyakang’o warns health payrolls devouring county budgets
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 19, 2025

The report reveals that the health sector took the largest share of wages, absorbing 44 per cent of the total employee costs, nearly Sh97 billion.

Businesses on the brink as counties’ pending bills soar to Sh176 billion - CoB
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 19, 2025

While most counties struggle, Nairobi has managed to reduce its pending bills by Sh36.78 billion, bringing the total to Sh86.77 billion. Mombasa’s unp...

CoB Margaret Nyakang’o warns counties overspending on salaries, stalling service delivery
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 19, 2025

In several counties, wages swallow more than half of all income, leaving minimal funding for service delivery and development.

Nairobi tops counties' travel spending, development projects left behind – CoB report
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 18, 2025

In her report, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o warned that such spending is excessive, unnecessary, and diverts resources from essential infra...

Billions in county empowerment loans remains unpaid as senators call for EACC Probe
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 18, 2025

The committee has further instructed the Controller of Budget to provide a detailed report on all empowerment funds across counties, showing the amoun...

Nyakang'o flags huge financial risk as counties operate thousands of unauthorised accounts
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 18, 2025

Nyakang'o warned that the proliferation of multiple commercial bank accounts, especially without required approvals, leaves public funds highly vulner...

Mukuru affordable housing registration kicks off, targets 2,000 residents
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 17, 2025

Ruth Wekesa, an official with the Affordable Housing Board, said the current registration is focused on applicants who were previously enumerated by t...

Kenya’s tree-planting drive struggles as budget falls behind
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 17, 2025

Launched in 2022, the initiative is split into two major projects: a Sh200 billion programme under the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and a Sh300 billion...

Leakages, technical issues slow Nakuru State House refurbishment, MPs say
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 16, 2025

Records from the Controller of Budget show that the government has a Sh10.7 billion plan to refurbish state houses and state lodges over 12 years endi...

Counties urge senators to end bursary freeze hitting thousands of students
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 12, 2025

The dispute dates back to a Nakuru High Court decision in April 2025, which stopped the Controller of Budget (CoB) from approving bursary withdrawals.

How protests over Finance Bill hurt Nairobi’s daily revenue collections
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  Sep 10, 2025

County records show fire inspection fees plunged by 90 per cent to Sh5.3 million, while market rates fell 11.6 per cent to Sh189.37 million.

Kenya's domestic debt interest payments soar by Sh98 billion in a year
Lucy Mumbi  |  Sep 08, 2025

The Sh632.3 billion expenditure on interest payments between July 2024 and June 2025 eclipsed the Sh545.8 billion allocated to all development project...

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