Kenya’s efforts to reform public finances have fallen short in protecting ordinary citizens, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o has said, pointing to gaps in both planning and implementation.
Speaking at the launch of Kenya’s 2026 Macro Fiscal Analytic Snapshot by the Institute of Public Finance on Thursday, Nyakang’o said the government’s focus on stabilising the economy must be balanced with the need to safeguard citizen welfare.
“The gap between policy commitments, budget approvals and actual outcomes remains one of Kenya’s most persistent public finance challenges,” Nyakang’o said.
She highlighted the health sector as a major area of concern. Despite higher allocations to the Primary Health Care Fund and the Emergency, Critical and Chronic Illness Fund, health facilities continue to face delayed reimbursements, weak transparency, uneven support for vulnerable groups, high out-of-pocket expenses, and donor funding that has not been fully replaced by domestic resources.
Nyakang’o warned that without predictable and timely funding, reforms in health risk collapsing where services are delivered.
While she praised steps such as the introduction of Zero-Based Budgeting and the Privatisation Act, 2025, Nyakang’o noted challenges remain, including over-optimistic revenue projections, poorly timed fiscal adjustments, and potential accountability issues in new financing mechanisms.
She also sounded an alarm on social and gender programmes, which are particularly exposed during fiscal tightening. “Gender equality and social protection are not optional expenditures, but core obligations of the state,” Nyakang’o said, adding that heavy reliance on IMF-supported programmes could further limit social spending and affect household welfare.
Nyakang’o questioned the establishment of the National Infrastructure Fund through the Government-Owned Enterprise Act, noting that bypassing parliamentary oversight could weaken public accountability.
“On this, it will be necessary to also monitor whether privatisation proceeds that will be channelled to the fund, contrary to the Consolidated Fund, will finance viable and clearly verifiable projects,” she said.
She further emphasised the need for close tracking of social health insurance reforms to ensure they enhance the health system and advance universal health coverage.
"Social health insurance reforms, meanwhile, require careful tracking to ensure they improve health system performance and advance progress toward universal health coverage," Nyakang’o added.
She concluded that credible budgeting, based on conservative revenue estimates, disciplined execution, and reforms that protect human development and social programmes even during fiscal adjustments, is critical. “Budgets must do more than balance books; they must deliver dignity, opportunity and resilience.”
