Counties to get additional Sh26b

Counties are set to get an additional Sh26 billion for the 2021/2022 financial year. 

This is according to the Division of Revenue Bill, 2021, that provides for the revenue sharing formula between the national and county governments. 

According to the Bill, counties have been allocated Sh370 billion in equitable share, up from Sh343 billion laid out by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani (pictured) in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) earlier this year. 

In addition to this, counties also have Sh32.3 billion in conditional allocations, including Sh13.1 billion from the World Bank for devolution support, universal healthcare and agriculture projects. 

Additional conditional allocations from the national government include Sh7.2 billion for the Medical Equipment Leasing Services and Sh332 million for construction of county headquarters. 

If passed, the law will see counties receive the highest disbursement from the national government since the start of devolution seven years ago.

The Bill is further pegged on the total sharable revenue hitting Sh1.775 trillion, a marginal increase from the Sh1.764 trillion CS Yatani presented to Parliament in January this year. 

Last year, Parliament recommended increasing counties’ equitable revenue share by 16.9 per cent (Sh53.5 billion) but Treasury only yielded a 3.2 per cent increase (Sh10 billion), citing revenue underperformance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In addition, following extensive consultations with concerned ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), the National Treasury proposes that four existing conditional allocations funded from the national government’s revenue share be converted to unconditional allocations to be disbursed to counties as part of their equitable revenue share,” said Yatani in the BPS.