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

Updated 17 October 2026

Machakos depends on the national government for about two thirds of its budget, and in 2025/26 it missed its own revenue target and left three months of salaries unrequisitioned. It did, however, raise development spending and pay down old bills. Here is what the Controller of Budget and the Auditor-General report about Machakos County’s money, plus the 2026/27 allocation.

Machakos Allocation for 2026/27

Machakos gets an equitable share of KSh 10.51 billion in 2026/27, the twelfth largest in Kenya. With KSh 0.32 billion in national government grants and KSh 0.14 billion from development partners, the total is KSh 10.97 billion. In 2025/26 the equitable share was budgeted at KSh 10.03 billion. Compare every county on our county allocations 2026/27 page.

The 2025/26 Budget at a Glance

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

• Approved budget: KSh 15.19 billion, 2.74 per cent less than in 2024/25 because of smaller conditional grants and a lower cash balance carried forward. Development was KSh 4.60 billion (30.3 per cent).
• Planned funding: 66 per cent from the equitable share, 7 per cent from additional allocations and 27 per cent (KSh 4.09 billion) from the county’s own revenue.
• Total receipts: KSh 14.23 billion, up 9.88 per cent, including KSh 10.18 billion of equitable share.
• Own-source revenue: KSh 3.33 billion against the KSh 4.09 billion target (81.42 per cent). County hospitals brought in KSh 1.60 billion of it under Facility Improvement Financing, and ordinary sources such as rates, permits and fees KSh 1.72 billion.
• Additional allocations: only KSh 297.57 million was received against KSh 1.08 billion budgeted.
• Spending: KSh 11.41 billion. Development spending was KSh 2.35 billion, 51.09 per cent of the development budget and 21.13 per cent more than the KSh 1.94 billion spent in 2024/25.

Salaries and Travel

Employee costs were KSh 6.37 billion, equal to 44.76 per cent of revenue, above the 35 per cent ceiling in the county finance regulations. The figure is 13.22 per cent lower than 2024/25, but the Controller of Budget explains that the drop happened because the county executive did not requisition salaries for April, May and June 2026, not because the payroll shrank. Health workers account for 51.18 per cent of the wage bill. A manual payroll of KSh 131.26 million covered 5 staff not yet on the government HR system and 179 casual workers.

Travel is a notable cost line. Exchequer releases for domestic travel came to KSh 446.88 million, almost evenly split between the executive (KSh 230.50 million) and the County Assembly (KSh 216.37 million), and foreign travel releases were KSh 90.21 million, of which the assembly took KSh 53.66 million. Domestic and foreign travel was the third biggest spending category after salaries and development.

Pending Bills and Stalled Projects

Trade payables fell from KSh 6.96 billion at 1 July 2025 to KSh 4.49 billion at 30 June 2026 (KSh 4.29 billion for the executive and KSh 207.03 million for the assembly), after the executive paid KSh 2.41 billion of old bills. The county reported 22 stalled projects with an estimated value of KSh 891.58 million, of which KSh 314.26 million had already been paid. It reported no borrowing.

What the Auditor-General Queried

The Machakos County Executive received a qualified opinion on its accounts for the year ended 30 June 2025. The Auditor-General’s summary report on counties for 2024/25 lists these queries for Machakos:

• Unsupported balances of KSh 4.15 billion, the second highest among the 29 county executives listed.
• Procurement irregularities on contracts valued at KSh 1.16 billion, the fourth highest among county executives.
• Imprests of KSh 3.59 million not surrendered within the required time.
• Machakos is one of 12 counties where the amounts collected through the County Revenue Fund did not all reach the Facility Improvement Fund, meaning not all hospital money was passed back to the hospitals.

These are audit queries that the county must respond to before the County Assembly and the Senate. They are not findings that money was stolen.

Bank Accounts and Late Reports

The Controller of Budget counted more than 300 county bank accounts at commercial banks, including 209 for health facilities, and says the county treasury did not send copies of the approvals for 302 of them as the law requires. KSh 117.69 million was booked under the catch-all “other operating expenses” line. The County Assembly Fund account was not yet operational, so no withdrawals were approved from it. The county’s reports reached the Controller of Budget on 23 July 2026.

For the county’s hospitals and health centres that take SHA patients, see SHA hospitals in Machakos. Suppliers to the county can follow open Machakos tenders on our tenders in Kenya today list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Machakos County’s budget allocation for 2026/27?

KSh 10.51 billion equitable share, or KSh 10.97 billion including grants.

How much revenue did Machakos collect in 2025/26?

KSh 3.33 billion, 81.42 per cent of its KSh 4.09 billion target.

How much does Machakos County owe in pending bills?

KSh 4.49 billion at 30 June 2026, down from KSh 6.96 billion.

Why did the Machakos wage bill fall?

Because salaries for April, May and June 2026 were not requisitioned during the year, according to the Controller of Budget.

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.