County employees in dozens of devolved units are facing a delayed payday after their administrations failed to secure approval for budgets needed to unlock salary payments. More than 35 counties are caught up in the problem, with the Controller of Budget saying late submissions and errors in budget documents have slowed down the clearance process.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o said the delays were largely caused by counties failing to submit their budgets within the required timelines.
She said counties were expected to submit their budgets by June 30, but many waited until August, creating pressure on her office as it works to review the documents and give the affected administrations permission to proceed with spending.
“As of August 10, 2026, 33 out of 47 county budgets, representing 70.2 per cent, had been submitted to the Controller of Budget, while 14 budgets, or 29.8 per cent, were still outstanding,” Nyakang’o said.
The figures show that nearly one-third of the county governments had not presented their budgets to the Controller of Budget by the deadline for the latest review.
By 3pm yesterday, only nine counties had completed the approval process and received the necessary clearance to upload their budgets onto the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).
The nine were Samburu, Kakamega, Kisii, Vihiga, Mandera, Wajir, Lamu, Taita Taveta and West Pokot.
The clearance is important because it allows counties to upload their approved budgets onto IFMIS and make financial requisitions, including those required to pay salaries.
“Of the submitted budgets, nine had completed the review process and received a Budget Clearance Letter for IFMIS upload from the CoB,” Nyakang’o said.
Four counties were still waiting for their budgets to be reviewed. They were Nyamira, Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi and Turkana.
A further 18 counties had received comment letters from the Controller of Budget after her office found omissions and other issues in their submissions. The affected administrations are expected to address the concerns before the documents can move to the next stage.
The situation was worse for another 14 counties that had not submitted their budgets at all.
The counties are Nairobi, Nyandarua, Kisumu, Siaya, Embu, Garissa, Kitui, Meru, Machakos, Mombasa, Tana River, Elgeyo Marakwet, Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu.
Nyakang’o said the late submissions had left her office with the task of reviewing a large number of budgets within a short period, even as county governments face immediate financial obligations.
“Their budgets have not been uploaded into IFMIS. They submitted their budgets in August, and I have to go through each of them,” Nyakang’o said.
She said the problem was not only about late submissions, noting that some counties had presented documents with major gaps that could not be cleared without corrections.
The Controller of Budget said some of the budgets already reviewed contained “serious omissions”, prompting her office to return them to the respective counties for compliance.
The delays have created uncertainty for county workers who are yet to receive their July salaries, while the affected administrations also need to meet other financial obligations.
With only nine counties cleared by yesterday afternoon, the remaining administrations must complete the required steps before they can upload their budgets on IFMIS and begin making the necessary requests.