On Friday, the Senate approved an additional Ksh50.5 billion for counties to use for, among other things, the completion of county headquarters in five counties that have been unfinished for nearly a decade.
Senators allocated Ksh532 million to Nyandarua, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, Isiolo, and Lamu counties as supplemental cash for the headquarters’ development.
This came after the government cancelled a Ksh444 million allocation to counties for building in the fiscal year 2024/25. Senators adopted the County Governments Allocations Bill, 2025, which provides more funding to counties that have complained about revenue problems and delayed payments to some workers.
The increased financing is designed to help counties whose offices, some of which began construction nearly a decade ago, are still unfinished and plagued by delays, cost overruns, and financial problems.
Nyandarua, for example, started building in March 2017 on a budget of Ksh617.6 million.However, the project has not yet been completed due to conflicts between the county and the contractor, with an additional Ksh83.5 million spent on cost fluctuations.
Tana River, where development began some years ago, received Ksh622.08 million, although the project is barely 55% completed owing to contractor termination and retendering concerns.
Tharaka Nithi’s headquarters project, which began in July 2015 with a budget of Ksh366.82 million, has stalled due to design revisions and cost differences.
This is despite financial contributions from both county and national governments.
Isiolo’s, on the other hand, began in March 2019 with a Ksh556.9 million budget, but delays in national government disbursements have left it incomplete, with only Ksh171.05 million released thus far.
Lamu’s headquarters, which began in 2015 with a Ksh195.21 million budget, has also stalled, with completion now set for at least September 2025 due to mechanical works subcontracting delays.
The projects were scheduled to be completed with a 70-30 funding split between the national and county governments, but Treasury budget cuts have hindered work.
At the same time, the Senate approved an additional Ksh3.2 billion for all 47 counties, which would be utilized to support Community Health Promoters.
CHPs, who are part of the government’s Universal Healthcare plan, have been up in arms over delays in the payment of stipends. The Senate has allocated Ksh1.759 billion for the payment of basic salary arrears for county government health workers.
Additionally, 19 counties will receive Ksh2 billion for the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) programme.
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