This archive report was first published on 4 July 2020.
Kenya's counties are facing significant challenges in implementing their budgets due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted economic growth and had a ripple effect on development.
As reported by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o, the pandemic is expected to negatively impact budget implementation for counties in the last quarter of the 2019/20 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2020.
The first Covid-19 positive case in Kenya was reported on March 13, 2020, and since then, counties have reviewed their spending plans in the 2020/21 financial year to reprioritise spending towards mitigating the negative economic impacts of Covid-19.
According to the budget implementation review report for the first nine months of the 2019/20 financial year, counties should develop frameworks for action aimed at saving lives, protecting households, businesses, and the economy.
Dr Nyakang'o warned that the pace of the disease's disruption is likely to accelerate in the months ahead as the disease spreads to more counties.
The report also highlighted that some counties have struggled to absorb their development budgets, with Nairobi, Samburu, and Nyandarua having the lowest absorption rates at 11.1%, 6%, and 4.1% respectively.
On the other hand, top performers were Murang'a, Tana River, and Marsabit, which absorbed 60.2%, 45.6%, and 43.5% of their development budgets respectively.
