Sh71 billion for Kenya’s counties: Breaking down the new 2026/27 Funding Law

The County Governments Additional Allocations Act, 2026, provides for Sh71,091,926,967 in additional resources for counties.

The previous financial year's allocation was Sh70,666,327,886.

The increase is approximately Sh425.6 million, or 0.6%.

The figures describe the full additional-allocation envelope, rather than a new Sh71 billion increase over the previous year's funding.

The money also comes from different sources, including national-government revenue and loans and grants from development partners.

The Act was signed on October 19, 2026, and applies to the 2026/27 financial year.

It provides the legal basis for funding listed in the schedules, with individual allocations tied to specified programmes and conditions.

What will the money support?

The additional allocations cover several devolved responsibilities.

One priority is the Community Health Promoters programme, which supports community-level health services.

Funding is also provided towards the transition of Universal Health Coverage workers to permanent and pensionable terms, as well as the construction of county headquarters.

Other allocations cover County Aggregation and Industrial Parks, which are intended to support agricultural processing and improve market access for producers.

The schedules also include funding related to affordable-housing committees and projects supported by development-partner loans and grants.

Some allocations are unconditional, while others are earmarked for particular programmes.

The schedules include resources from court fines and counties' share of mineral royalties, as well as conditional transfers for specific projects.

This means counties cannot treat the entire amount as a general-purpose fund for whichever project they choose.

The permitted use depends on the source of the money and the conditions attached to each allocation.

The money is not the equitable share

Kenya's counties also receive an equitable share of nationally raised revenue under the annual division of revenue arrangements.

For the 2026/27 financial year, that separate equitable share is Sh420 billion.

The additional allocations under the new law sit alongside it, although some are conditional or supported by development-partner financing rather than unrestricted transfers to county accounts.

The Sh71.09 billion therefore should not be confused with the total amount counties receive from every source.

Counties also raise their own-source revenue, while particular programmes may be financed or administered through national ministries and agencies.

For residents, the most useful question is how much of the funding allocated to their county is actually transferred, what it is intended to finance and whether the planned projects are delivered.

New reporting requirements

The Act includes provisions requiring the National Treasury to publish quarterly reports on actual transfers to county governments.

County treasuries must also account for conditional allocations in their financial records and include them in the relevant quarterly and annual reports.

These requirements give legislators, auditors, journalists and the public a clearer basis for checking whether money allocated on paper has been released and recorded.

They do not, by themselves, guarantee that a funded road will be completed, that a health facility will have adequate supplies or that every transfer will arrive on schedule.

Those outcomes still depend on procurement, financial management, project implementation and oversight.

How residents can follow the money

County residents can compare the allocations with their county's approved budget, annual development plan and budget implementation reports.

The relevant county assembly committees, Controller of Budget reports and Auditor-General's findings also provide avenues for checking public spending.

Suppose a county has a specific allocation for community health workers or an agricultural aggregation project.

Residents can ask whether the county budget includes the programme, whether the money was received and what services or facilities were delivered.

The law provides an allocation framework, but the public still has a role in monitoring how that money is used.

What happens next?

County governments must incorporate the relevant allocations into their budgets and follow the conditions and disbursement arrangements governing each fund.

The funding covers a range of county functions, but its impact will vary by programme and county.

Some money is meant for particular development projects; other allocations support health personnel and service delivery.