Kirinyaga County received KSh5.92 billion during the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year against an annual budget of KSh8.54 billion. The county's revenue came mainly from the equitable share from the National Government which accounted for 78 per cent of all receipts. Facility Improvement Financing (FIF) contributed 8 per cent while ordinary own-source revenue contributed 5 per cent.
The county collected KSh779.54 million in own-source revenue including Facility Improvement Financing exceeding its annual target of KSh764 million by achieving 102 per cent. This represented a 44 per cent increase compared to the KSh542.66 million collected during the same period in the previous financial year. According to the report, the increase was largely due to improved health services which attracted more patients and increased revenue.
Out of the KSh779.54 million collected locally, KSh324.74 million came from ordinary own-source revenue while KSh454.80 million came from Facility Improvement Financing. Health and hospital fees remained the county's biggest revenue source generating KSh445.80 million representing 58 per cent of all locally generated revenue. The county also informed the Controller of Budget that all its revenue streams have been automated.
The report notes that Kirinyaga does not have legislation governing ordinary Appropriation-in-Aid and Facility Improvement Financing. Instead, the county continues to use the National Facility Improvement Financing Act of 2013 to operate health facility funds.
The Controller of Budget approved withdrawals of KSh4.43 billion from the County Revenue Fund during the reporting period. Of this amount, KSh3.16 billion (71 per cent) went to recurrent expenditure while KSh1.27 billion (29 per cent) was allocated to development programmes.
Within recurrent expenditure, the county allocated KSh1.91 billion to salaries and wages and KSh1.26 billion to operations and maintenance. The report shows that 18 per cent of operations and maintenance spending went to domestic travel while no money was spent on foreign travel.
Kirinyaga spent KSh235.37 million on domestic travel during the first nine months. According to the report, KSh190.50 million was spent by the County Assembly while KSh44.87 million was spent by the County Executive. No expenditure was recorded on foreign travel.
The county spent a total of KSh4.43 billion during the reporting period achieving an overall budget absorption rate of 52 per cent. Recurrent expenditure recorded an absorption rate of 60 per cent while development expenditure recorded 39 per cent. The largest spending categories were personnel emoluments, development expenditure and county-established funds.
The report further shows that the County Executive spent KSh1.65 billion on employee compensation, KSh921.62 million on operations and maintenance and about KSh1.24 billion on development activities.
Kirinyaga's wage bill stood at 32 per cent of total revenue making it one of only five counties that remained below the legal ceiling of 35 per cent. The other counties were Tana River, Kwale, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu.
The Controller of Budget also reported that Kirinyaga did not disclose any short-term borrowing as of 31 March 2026. The county had a cash balance of KSh635 million in its County Revenue Fund account at the end of the reporting period. The report further notes that the County Assembly Fund had not yet been operationalised.
Kirinyaga County allocated KSh561.35 million to county-established funds representing 7 per cent of the county's total budget. Out of this, KSh26 million was allocated to the Emergency Fund as required by law. During the review period, the Controller of Budget confirmed receiving quarterly financial reports from all fund administrators.
Among the county funds, the Education Bursary Fund received KSh129.5 million while the Health Facilities Improvement Fund was allocated KSh305 million. Other allocations went to the Emergency Fund, the Executive Staff Mortgage and Car Loan Scheme Fund, Agricultural Institutions Fund and the County Assembly Staff Car Loans and Mortgage Fund.
The report also reviewed spending by public health facilities. It found that health centres and hospitals received and spent Facility Improvement Financing (FIF) funds to support health services during the reporting period.
The Controller of Budget highlighted several major development projects that received the highest funding. These included the Road Maintenance Fuel Levy Fund (RMLF), the Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme, the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), grants to Village Technical and Vocational Training Centres (VTCs), county co-financing for NAVCDP projects, women's assembly programmes, leasing of murram for road works, the preparation of final accounts for the Kerugoya Medical Complex and the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP II).
Among these projects, several achieved 100 per cent implementation including county co-financing for FLLoCA, county co-financing for NAVCDP, grants to VTCs, leasing of murram and funding for the Women's Assembly Caucus. The FLLoCA Climate Resilience Investment Grant reached 90 per cent, while the Roads Maintenance Fuel Levy Fund reached 35 per cent, NAVCDP achieved 19 per cent and KDSP II reached 48 per cent.
The report further analysed spending by department. The County Executive recorded the highest development budget absorption rate at 85 per cent followed by the Department of Gender and Youth at 84 per cent. The Department of Education had the highest recurrent expenditure absorption at 81 per cent while the Department of Lands, Housing and Urban Development recorded the lowest recurrent absorption at 10 per cent.
At programme level, some activities performed exceptionally well while others lagged behind. The report shows that finance services under the Department of Finance and Economic Planning achieved only 8 per cent development absorption. Water and irrigation under Environment and Natural Resources recorded 3 per cent. County spatial planning recorded just 1 per cent recurrent absorption while construction and maintenance of roads and bridges achieved 8 per cent. General administration and planning, child community support services and environment management and protection each recorded 10 per cent recurrent absorption.
The Controller of Budget also reviewed pending bills. As of 31 March 2026, Kirinyaga County had KSh737.83 million in outstanding trade payables equivalent to about 9 per cent of its annual budget. Of this amount, KSh373.98 million related to development projects while KSh363.85 million related to recurrent expenditure. Most of the pending bills had remained unpaid for more than two years.
The report notes that although the county had prepared a payment plan for pending bills, it did not follow the plan clearing only KSh56.97 million in development bills during the reporting period.
Finally, the Controller of Budget identified several challenges affecting budget implementation in Kirinyaga. These included:
- Late submission of financial reports to the Controller of Budget which delayed preparation of the national report.
- Low development spending with only 39 per cent of the development budget absorbed.
- Two county funds. That is, the Emergency Fund and the County Assembly Staff Car Loans and Mortgage Fund had exceeded the legal 10-year lifespan without renewal.
- High pending bills amounting to KSh737.83 million.
- Use of manual payroll involving KSh133.67 million which the report says is prone to abuse and could lead to loss of public funds.
- Failure to submit copies of authorisation letters for opening commercial bank accounts as required by the Public Finance Management Regulations.
To improve performance, the Controller of Budget recommended that Kirinyaga County submit financial reports on time, increase development spending, regularise expired county funds, clear pending bills, stop using manual payroll by migrating staff to the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and comply with financial regulations governing county bank accounts.