Nairobi Among the Five Worst-Performing Counties in Financial Management [LIST]

Nairobi City County has been ranked among Kenya’s five worst-performing counties in financial management, according to the newly launched County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index (CFPMI).

During the launch of the Senate report by Speaker Amason Jeffah Kingi on August 6 at the Parliament Buildings, Nairobi was ranked among the bottom counties nationally, with Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration managing a score of 0.387 and a Grade D rating.

The County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index was developed by Parliament’s Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to provide a scientific assessment of counties’ adherence to public finance management principles.

“Since the advent of devolution, one of our greatest limitations has been the absence of a scientific and objective framework for measuring how counties perform against established public finance management indicators,” Kingi explained on the CFPMI.

He added that the index would allow the Senate to assess counties using measurable indicators rather than political perceptions.

The ranking places the capital city ahead of only Bomet at 0.383, Busia 0.362, Kakamega 0.358 and Kisumu 0.285.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the difference between high-ranking and low-ranking counties is based on the quality of governance, financial planning, fiscal discipline and implementation of public finance management laws.

Also Read: KURA Warns Nairobi, Motorists of 3-Hour Traffic Disruption This Weekend

Nairobi Faulted Over High Wage Bill

Despite Nairobi controlling the country’s largest county budget, estimated at KSh43.1 billion, Sakaja’s administration was among the poor-performing counties in financial management.

One of the biggest concerns raised in the report is Nairobi’s expenditure on wages and employee benefits.

Under Section 107 of the Public Finance Management Act, county governments are required to keep spending on salaries and benefits below 35 percent of total revenue.

However, Nairobi was among the counties found to have exceeded the legal threshold significantly, spending approximately 56 percent of its revenue on personnel costs.

Further, the Senate report indicated that 42 counties have exceeded this threshold, with  Kajiado County spending 60%, Nyeri 57%, Baringo 56%, and Homa Bay County 55% on wages and benefit payments.

On the other hand, counties including Embu, Nakuru, Narok, Kilifi, and Tana River had managed to remain below the legal ceiling.

The assessment further indicates that Nairobi fell short of the legal requirement requiring counties to allocate at least 30 percent of their budgets to development expenditure.

Nairobi allocated only about 13 percent of its budget to development projects, placing it among the poorest-performing counties in that category according to the report.

Among counties with the least allocations are Nyamira at 11%, Kisumu at 14%, Elgeyo Marakwet at 14% and Nandi at 15% in the 2024-25 financial year

Embu Among Top Performing Counties

Embu County emerged as the best-performing county nationally with a score of 0.689 in the 2024/25 financial year, moving from a “C” rating in the previous year.

Narok retained its performance with a score of 0.608 and a “B” grade, while Wajir also joined the “B” category at a score of 0.605 under the leadership of Ahmed Abdullahi.

Following the joining of Wajir in the B category of ranking, the country had a ranking improvement from the  2023/2024 financial year record of two counties to three.

The overall merged CFPMI scores showed an improvement in the counties from 0.469 in the 2023/24 financial year to 0.471 in 2024/25.

Also Read: Nairobi’s Road Network Set for Expansion With New 19.5km Talanta Stadium Network

Best to Least Performance Ranking Comparison

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