County workers miss paychecks due to budget delays

Because the 2026/27 budgets remain unapproved, staff in 21 counties have missed paychecks for as long as sixty days, and the delay has barred entities from accessing the Integrated Financial Management Information System.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o stated that only 32 of 41 submitted budgets have been cleared, while seven counties have not submitted theirs, and five received comment letters they have not answered.

Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyandarua, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Marsabit, Kilifi, and Embu have paid June and July salaries, but the rest have not, forcing some employees to borrow.

Several counties had used commercial bank facilities to bridge salaries, but these arrangements are now collapsing as banks pull out over unpaid balances or shift accounts to rival lenders.

The National Treasury has disbursed all equitable share due to counties by financial year-end, including July and August allocations, according to their reports.

Council of Governors chairperson Ahmed Abdullah argued that counties facing budget stalemates should still access allocations for essential obligations, including salaries, even before full budget clearance.

The recurring nature of this crisis points to a structural weakness rather than a one-off administrative lapse, as nearly identical scenes surface every financial year-end.

IFMIS access is correctly tied to budget compliance as a public finance safeguard, but the current design creates a binary outcome: full compliance unlocks all funds, including salaries, while any unresolved budget dispute freezes workers’ pay entirely.

This issue is not just about budget disputes, but also about the governance risk within devolution’s own checks and balances, as seen in the Siaya case where an assembly can use its budget-approval and appointment powers against an executive.

A workable fix exists in Abdullah’s proposal to ring-fence statutory and payroll obligations for partial release even where a county’s broader budget remains unresolved, which could help prevent such crises in the future.

According to devolution principles, salary obligations are contractual and largely non-discretionary, and they should not be held hostage to disputes over development allocations or unresolved vote-heads.