Council of Governors urges the Senate to increase counties' equitable share to ksh536 billion

Parliament Buildings
Tuesday, 6th May 2025

The Council of Governors (CoG) has urged the Senate to review the resource allocation framework and propose that counties equitable share be increased from Kshs405 billion to Kshs536 billion for the 2025/2026 Financial Year.

This increase, the county bosses explained, is to align the allocation framework with the country’s macroeconomic growth and to ensure counties address their financing needs adequately.

While appearing before the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget earlier today, the Chairperson of CoG’s Finance Committee, Governor Fernandes Barasa, beseeched the Senate to amend the Division of Revenue Bill 2025 to enable counties to receive an extra Kshs131 billion. 

The Kakamega County Boss explained to the Senators that despite the continued expansion of Kenya’s fiscal space and in comparison with the national government’s share, the counties’ share has almost stagnated for the past 5 years, negatively affecting the productivity of the devolved units.

“For the last 5 years, the counties’ equitable share has grown by a marginal Ksh70 billion while that of the national government has grown by Ksh702 billion. This is unfair to the 47 devolved units,” the Kakamega Governor said.

This disparity, Governor Barasa said, does not reflect the division of national revenue between the two levels of government since it is not in sync with the growth trends of the country’s revenue and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

While agreeing with the Council of Governors for the additional allocation to counties and the gradual reduction in the national allocation, Senators counselled the county bosses to be exemplary ambassadors of devolution by ensuring all development projects in the devolved units are a success.

The legislators pledged the Senate's resolve in coming up with a less controversial revenue-sharing formula and assured that no county will lose a coin from their current allocations to ensure equitable gains.

“The Fourth Basis of revenue sharing is now the property of the house. As the Senate, we will recommend a formula that will be less controversial. We will do our best in support of Devolution,” Senator Ali Roba said.

They appealed for governors to have peer review sessions during their meetings to improve performance and share best practices, emphasising that counties should not compete but learn from each other.

The Members of the Senator Ali Roba-led Committee also met with the Chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), Mrs. Mary Chebukati, who took them through the Commission’s memorandum on the Division of Revenue Bill.