The National Treasury has triggered a wave of urgent county-level spending after disbursing Sh30.99 billion just five days before the end of the financial year, raising serious concerns about possible misuse of funds under pressure to exhaust allocations.

The funds were released on Wednesday, forcing county governments to rush last-minute requisitions to the Controller of Budget before the Integrated Financial Management Information System closes at midnight on June 30.

Oversight institutions have expressed concern that the urgency could result in questionable expenditures disguised as legitimate financial year-end obligations.

“Now we are waiting for the end-of-year requisitions, likely to be rushed and mostly fake,” a senior official at the Office of the Controller of Budget said.

With this disbursement, Treasury has fully settled all pending exchequer releases to counties, addressing a long-standing grievance among county governments about delayed and unpredictable cash transfers.

The Sh30.99 billion adds up to a cumulative Sh418 billion sent to counties during the 2024–25 financial year, including funds carried over from the previous fiscal year.

This year’s timely clearance contrasts with last year, when Sh30 billion meant for June was withheld and only released in the subsequent financial year.

The current release comes after Deputy President Kithure Kindiki pledged during Monday’s 27th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council that counties would receive their pending allocations before the financial year ended.

“We don’t have any pending allocations apart from June’s, which will be released on time,” the Deputy President said during the meeting.

Although there were earlier signals that Treasury might fall short of releasing the full amount in time, the money was eventually wired to all counties.

However, the last-minute nature of the transfer has created intense pressure on county administrations to spend the funds quickly, raising concerns about absorption rates and value for money.

Among the top recipients are Nairobi with Sh1.61 billion, Nakuru (Sh1.09 billion), Turkana (Sh1.05 billion), and Kakamega (Sh1.03 billion). Other counties receiving substantial amounts include Kiambu (Sh983.49 million), Kilifi (Sh973.58 million), Mandera (Sh935.24 million), Bungoma (Sh893.65 million), and Kitui (Sh870.87 million).

Additional disbursements went to Meru (Sh795.54 million), Wajir (Sh792.22 million), Machakos (Sh767.77 million), Kisii (Sh744.46 million), Narok (Sh739.68 million), Kwale (Sh690.03 million), and Kisumu (Sh672.42 million).

Section 17 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, obligates Treasury to send the equitable share of revenue to counties by the 15th of every month. However, this legal requirement is rarely met, with Treasury often pushing disbursements to the last days or beyond the financial year.

Treasury has often cited cash flow challenges and competing priorities for the national government as the reason behind the delays. Critics, however, accuse the Exchequer of marginalising county governments by favouring national operations at their expense.

Although counties have five recognised revenue sources—equitable share, own-source collections, grants, loans, and investments—most remain heavily dependent on Treasury disbursements to finance their operations, including salaries and essential services.

This overreliance, compounded by the unpredictable release of funds, continues to threaten the effectiveness of devolution and risks undoing service delivery gains unless reforms are introduced to secure reliable and timely funding.

Despite Senate-approved disbursement schedules designed to ensure consistency, Treasury has routinely ignored these timelines, leaving counties to operate under tight financial pressure.