Kisumu County Budget: 2026/27 Allocation, Revenue, Pending Bills and Audit

Updated 17 October 2026

Kisumu relies heavily on the national government for its budget and spent only about a quarter of its development money in 2025/26, partly because several promised grants never arrived. On the other hand, it cut its pending bills sharply. This page brings together the official figures on Kisumu County’s budget, revenue, spending, unpaid bills and audit queries, with the 2026/27 allocation.

Kisumu’s Allocation for 2026/27

Kisumu’s equitable share for 2026/27 is KSh 9.18 billion, up from KSh 8.90 billion in 2025/26. It also gets KSh 0.66 billion in national government grants, one of the larger amounts of any county, and KSh 0.22 billion from development partners, for a total of KSh 10.06 billion. See all counties on our county allocations 2026/27 page.

The 2025/26 Budget at a Glance

From the Controller of Budget’s report for the year to 30 June 2026:

• Approved supplementary budget: KSh 16.98 billion, with KSh 6.71 billion (39.5 per cent) set aside for development, a high share on paper.
• Planned funding: the equitable share was budgeted to cover 52.42 per cent. Additional allocations were expected to bring KSh 2.89 billion, and the county also counted KSh 1.87 billion of SHIF money owed to it from the previous year. Ordinary own-source revenue was budgeted at only KSh 865.75 million.
• Total revenue received: KSh 13.36 billion, up 6.76 per cent, plus a cash balance of KSh 1.56 billion from 2024/25.
• Own-source revenue: KSh 1.47 billion, of which KSh 693.55 million came from county hospitals under Facility Improvement Financing and KSh 773.42 million from rates, fees and permits. Appropriations-in-aid added KSh 124.07 million.
• Spending: KSh 10.10 billion, equal to all the money the Controller of Budget released. Development spending was KSh 1.74 billion, only 25.92 per cent of the development budget.

Grants That Did Not Arrive

Part of the gap between plan and spending is money that was budgeted but never arrived. The Controller of Budget lists approved additional allocations Kisumu did not receive at all, including KSh 75.40 million for doctors’ salary arrears, KSh 165.34 million and KSh 89.94 million under the community health promoters programme, KSh 37.33 million from an IFAD aquaculture loan and KSh 68.30 million from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund. Other grants, such as the informal settlements programme (KISIP) and the climate resilience programme (FLLoCA), were only partly paid. By 30 June 2026 the county was still owed KSh 1.58 billion in additional allocations and KSh 1.87 billion in SHIF receivables.

The report also notes that the county did not fund some programmes that were approved in the budget, including administration for the Ahero/Awasi, Maseno-Holo and Kombewa/Bodi municipalities.

Dependence on Hospital Revenue

Hospital collections make up 47.3 per cent of everything Kisumu raises locally. The Controller of Budget warns that this concentration is a risk to the sustainability of the county’s own revenue. The SHA contract list for the county, including Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and the county’s sub-county hospitals, is on our SHA hospitals in Kisumu page.

Wages and Pending Bills

Employee costs fell 6.82 per cent to KSh 5.54 billion, which is 41.48 per cent of revenue and above the 35 per cent ceiling. Health workers account for 56.12 per cent of the wage bill. Almost all salaries now go through the government HR system; the manual payroll was only KSh 11.10 million, for salary arrears.

Trade payables fell from KSh 2.79 billion to KSh 850.47 million during the year, after the executive paid KSh 1.95 billion of old bills and the County Assembly cleared all of its KSh 14.09 million. The county had planned to clear the full KSh 2.79 billion, so the Controller of Budget records that the payment plan was not fully met. Kisumu did not provide a list of stalled projects.

What the Auditor-General Queried

Kisumu County Executive received a qualified opinion on its accounts for the year ended 30 June 2025. Queries listed against Kisumu in the Auditor-General’s 2024/25 summary report include:

• Unsupported balances of KSh 1.87 billion.
• Voided transactions of KSh 1.40 billion.
• Inaccuracies in the financial statements affecting KSh 202.03 million.
• Avoidable or wasteful payments of KSh 26.50 million, unsupported expenditure of KSh 23.85 million and procurement irregularities on contracts valued at KSh 20.13 million.
• A title deed for a ten-acre piece of land not provided, and no up-to-date fixed assets register.

These are queries the county must answer before the County Assembly and the Senate. A query is not proof of wrongdoing.

Late Reports

Kisumu’s annual financial reports reached the Controller of Budget on 13 August 2026, and the administrators of county funds did not file their quarterly reports on time. Businesses supplying the county can follow open tenders on our tenders in Kenya today list.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is Kisumu County’s allocation for 2026/27?

KSh 9.18 billion equitable share and KSh 10.06 billion including grants.

How much revenue does Kisumu County collect?

KSh 1.47 billion in own-source revenue in 2025/26, nearly half of it from county hospitals.

How much does Kisumu County owe in pending bills?

KSh 850.47 million at 30 June 2026, down from KSh 2.79 billion a year earlier.

Why was Kisumu’s development spending low?

Only 25.92 per cent of the development budget was spent. The Controller of Budget also lists approved grants that were not received or only partly paid, which left some budgeted programmes without cash.

Sources: Controller of Budget, County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report for FY 2025/26 (August 2026); Auditor-General, Summary Report on County Governments 2024/2025; Parliamentary Budget Office, Budget Explainer FY 2026/27.