List: Kenyan Counties Exposed for Illegal Bank Accounts in CoB Report

List: Kenyan Counties Exposed for Illegal Bank Accounts in CoB Report

The Controller of Budget (CoB) has raised concerns about county governments’ use of commercial bank accounts for managing county funds.

This practice violates Regulation 82(1)(b) of the PFM (County Governments) Regulations, 2015, which mandates county government accounts to be opened and maintained at the Central Bank of Kenya.

The CoB clarified that exceptions to this rule apply only to accounts used for revenue collection and petty cash.

Recommendations by the CoB

Flagged counties faced criticism for delayed submission of financial statements, which hindered the timely preparation of budget implementation reports. To address this, the CoB recommended:

• County Treasuries should ensure financial reports are prepared and submitted to the Controller of Budget’s office in line with the timelines set out in Section 166 of the PFM Act, 2012.
• County governments must open and operate accounts exclusively at the Central Bank of Kenya, except for exempted accounts used for petty cash and revenue collection.

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Counties Operating the Most Commercial Bank Accounts

The CoB highlighted 10 counties with a high number of commercial bank accounts, many operating against the law. For instance:

• Nairobi’s county assembly runs five commercial bank accounts, while the county executive failed to disclose its account details.
• Nyandarua and Narok county treasuries also did not report their commercial bank account numbers.

Counties with the Highest MCA Sitting Allowance Spending

In Q1 FY 2024/25, counties spent KSh 290.23 million on MCA sitting allowances, accounting for 15% of the approved budget of KSh 1.88 billion. This marks a drop from 16% in the same period of FY 2023/24.

Key highlights include:

• Samburu County: Recorded the highest average sitting allowance per MCA at KSh 223,797.
• Makueni County: Followed at KSh 108,902.
• Nairobi City County: Registered the lowest average allowance at KSh 4,582, trailed by Kajiado County at KSh 8,081.

List: Kenyan Counties Exposed for Illegal Bank Accounts in CoB Report