National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has allocated Sh405.1 billion to county governments in the 2025/26 budget, an increase of Sh17.6 billion from the previous financial year.

This allocation represents 25.79% of the actual national revenue collected in the 2020/21 financial year, based on the most recent audited figures.

In addition to the equitable share, the National Treasury has earmarked Sh9.95 billion as conditional allocations from the National Government’s share, and another Sh56.91 billion as conditional grants from development partners.

The budget was presented in Parliament by CS Mbadi in his first statement since taking over the Treasury docket.

"I remain mindful of the aspirations and high expectations as I serve in this office. This budget reaffirms the priority policies and strategies aimed at stimulating economic recovery," Mbadi said.

He noted that the economy had remained resilient, posting an average growth rate of 5.2% in the 2023/24 period.

This performance was above the global growth of 3.3% and 3.8% recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa during the same period.

In the budget statement, the total shareable revenue stands at Sh2.835 trillion, while the National Government’s allocation is Sh2.419 trillion.

Mbadi emphasized efforts to make the budget process more inclusive.

"We have strengthened public participation in all policy formulation, including the budget-making process," he said.

County allocations under the equitable share include: Nairobi (Sh21.1 billion), Turkana (Sh13.8 billion), Kakamega (Sh13.6 billion), Nakuru (Sh14.3 billion), and Mandera (Sh12.2 billion).

Other allocations include Kiambu (Sh12.9 billion), Kilifi (Sh12.7 billion), Bungoma (Sh11.7 billion), Kitui (Sh11.4 billion), and Meru (Sh10.4 billion).

Counties with smaller allocations include Lamu (Sh3.4 billion), Tharaka Nithi (Sh4.6 billion), Isiolo (Sh5.1 billion), and Elgeyo Marakwet (Sh5 billion).

Addressing budget credibility concerns, Mbadi said past public perception had raised doubts about the realism of budget targets.

"There has been public perception and concern in the past that our budgets tend to be unrealistic. To address these concerns, we adopted the zero-based budgeting and reduced revenue projection to be in line with trends."

He also noted key reforms in the education sector, including the resolution of challenges around the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).