Ruto signs law giving counties KSh71.09bn in additional allocations for 2026/27

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President William Ruto has signed the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill, 2026 into law, clearing the way for counties to receive KSh71.09bn in extra money for the 2026/27 financial year on top of their equitable share.

The President signed the Bill at State Lodge Eldoret on Monday, October 19. The exact sum set out in the law is KSh71,091,926,967, up from KSh70.67bn in 2025/26, an increase of about KSh425.6m.

Where the money comes from

Most of the money is not raised locally or from the national budget. Loans and grants from development partners account for KSh56.38bn, close to four in every five shillings in the package. A further KSh12.73bn comes from the national government’s share of revenue, and the balance, roughly KSh2bn, is made up of unconditional allocations from court fines and mineral royalties.

Because most of it is conditional, counties can only spend the money on the programmes it is tied to. The law lists healthcare staff and management, climate change resilience, agriculture value chain development, drought response, natural resource management, and water and sanitation.

Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye said the conditional allocations from the national government would help pay for the construction of county headquarters and meet the cost of universal health coverage (UHC) staff moving to permanent and pensionable terms. Deputy Chief of Staff Josephat Nanok said the funds would also support Community Health Promoters and allow counties to plan their budgets and improve services.

Quarterly reports on transfers

The new law also tightens reporting. The National Treasury will have to publish quarterly reports showing what has actually been transferred to each county, and county treasurers must account for conditional allocations in their financial statements.

That matters because counties have long complained about late releases. Delays in disbursement push up pending bills and hold back payments to suppliers and contractors, and the latest Exchequer figures show debt service is taking a large share of what the Treasury collects.

The Bill was sponsored in the Senate by Mandera Senator Ali Roba, who chairs the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget. It was read a first time on April 2 and passed its third reading on June 17, 2026, about four months before assent.

How it fits with the equitable share

The additional allocations are separate from the equitable share, the constitutionally guaranteed slice of national revenue that counties can spend on any function in their approved budgets. For 2026/27 the 47 counties share KSh428bn under the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2026. Our breakdown of what each county gets in 2026/27 shows the split, with Nairobi City receiving the largest equitable share at KSh22.11bn.

County assembly law also signed

The President also assented to the County Assembly Services (Amendment) Bill, 2023, sponsored by Marsabit Senator Mohammed Chute. It sets clear, time-bound procedures for removing members of County Assembly Service Boards and for suspending and removing clerks of county assemblies. Removal of board members will go through a committee of inquiry and a vote by the assembly. The law also protects the rights and benefits of county assembly staff on secondment.

The two laws come days after the President signed the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which kept VAT on fuel at 8% for a further 90 days.

How much difference the extra KSh71.09bn makes will depend on how quickly the Treasury releases it and on how counties account for spending tied to specific programmes.