County governments are facing growing financial and management pressures that could affect their ability to deliver services, with weak local revenue collection, rising pending bills and high wage costs emerging as some of the biggest challenges.
The concerns have been identified under the Second Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP II), a joint initiative funded by the Kenyan government and the World Bank to strengthen governance and improve the running of devolved units.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Tuesday, KDSP II National Programme Coordinator Samuel Nyaga said the programme had identified several areas that needed attention, including financial and expenditure management, human resource management, performance management, accountability, citizen participation and oversight.
Nyaga said one of the major financial problems facing counties was their inability to raise enough revenue from their own sources to support their budgets.
“One of them is own source revenue,” he said, noting that counties often struggle to generate enough money internally to supplement funds allocated through their budgets.
He also identified pending bills as a major concern, linking the problem to unrealistic budgets and weak revenue forecasting.
“Having a budget is one thing, right? And actually adding the resources to implement that budget is another thing,” Nyaga said.
He explained that counties could find themselves spending more than they can afford when revenue estimates are not accurate, leading to commitments that cannot be supported by available resources.
“You over commit because you are committing based on a budget that is not realistic,” he said.
To address the problem, Nyaga said KDSP II was working with the National Treasury to develop a scientific revenue forecasting model. The model is expected to help counties make more accurate revenue projections and reduce the risk of committing funds that are not available.
The programme is also focusing on challenges within county human resource management, including high wage bills, weaknesses in organisational structures, staff establishments and gaps in skills.
Nyaga said counties also needed stronger performance management systems to ensure employees were meeting their expected targets and delivering results.
Public participation is another area targeted by the programme. Nyaga said KDSP II had revised guidelines developed under the first devolution support programme to help counties make public engagement more meaningful.
He said public participation should go beyond simply recording attendance, arguing that residents need to understand the budgets and decisions being discussed.
“You can do public participation whereby you just have a list and people can come and feel.we were called during the budgeting, but did they sign, but they didn't really understand which budget they were even dealing with,” he said.
KDSP II is also supporting project management committees made up of local residents to monitor county projects, give feedback and follow up on implementation.
Nyaga said the programme was designed to strengthen what he described as the “software” of devolution, with greater attention to governance, systems and accountability alongside physical development.