Only 29 counties managed to raise more than half of their own-source revenue targets in the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year, exposing the wide gap in the ability of devolved units to generate money locally.
National Treasury figures show the 47 counties collected a combined Sh53.83 billion between July 2025 and March 2026, an increase from the Sh45.90 billion raised over the same period in the 2024/25 financial year.
The latest collections represent a 17.2 per cent increase, but the overall performance remained at 53.8 per cent of the total amount the counties had expected to collect.
Turkana recorded the weakest result, raising Sh162.92 million against an annual own-source revenue target of Sh1.2 billion. Its collections translated to a performance rate of only 13.6 per cent during the nine-month period.
Siaya was the second-lowest performer after collecting Sh607 million from a Sh3.1 billion target, giving it a 19.5 per cent achievement rate.
Kisumu also fell below the 40 per cent mark after raising Sh1.1 billion against a Sh3.5 billion target. The county managed 30.7 per cent of its projected revenue.
Kiambu and Kisii were the other counties that posted performance rates below 40 per cent, with the two achieving 39.2 per cent and 36.7 per cent, respectively.
The Treasury said several factors could be behind the poor results recorded in some counties, pointing to weaknesses in how revenue is collected and managed.
"[The weaker performance] may reflect challenges including inefficiencies in revenue administration, weak enforcement of county revenue laws, limited automation of revenue collection systems, and overoptimistic revenue projections," the Treasury said.
Samburu, however, recorded the strongest performance after collecting more money than it had projected for the period. It raised Sh389.8 million against a target of Sh282.4 million, resulting in a performance rate of 138.1 per cent.
Garissa also went beyond its target after collecting Sh489.1 million compared with the Sh450 million it had projected. This gave the county a performance rate of 108.7 per cent.
Kirinyaga followed closely, collecting Sh779.5 million against a Sh764 million target to reach 102 per cent.
West Pokot and Trans Nzoia recorded relatively strong results at 83.5 per cent and 81.4 per cent, respectively.
According to the Treasury, counties that performed better benefited from improved ways of collecting revenue, stronger enforcement and increased use of automated systems. Better compliance among taxpayers also contributed to the stronger results.
Nairobi collected Sh10.8 billion during the period, reaching 50.9 per cent of its Sh21.2 billion target.
The Treasury said stronger local revenue collection is important because it can help counties meet their daily expenses without relying entirely on transfers from the national government.
Counties require the funds to support their operations, pay employees and maintain key services, including education and healthcare.
Improved collection systems can also help reduce cases where taxpayers fail to pay and limit the amount of money lost through weaknesses in the revenue collection process.
The importance of own-source revenue has grown because counties have continued to depend on the equitable share provided by the National Treasury to finance much of their operations.
Delays in the release of these funds have in the past affected county operations, making stronger internal revenue systems important for maintaining services when national government transfers do not arrive on time.
The Treasury said more work was needed to improve the performance of counties, including making better use of technology and widening the sources from which they collect local revenue.
"These variations underscore the need for continued reforms aimed at strengthening county revenue administration, enhancing automation, broadening the local revenue base, and improving the realism of county revenue forecasts," said the Treasury.
Appropriations-in-Aid, which refers to money collected by county departments and allowed to be retained for their operational needs, accounted for Sh23.45 billion during the nine months.
The amount was collected against a target of Sh30.12 billion, giving a performance rate of 77.9 per cent. Parking fees are among the revenues included under this category.
When Appropriations-in-Aid is removed from the figures, counties raised Sh30.43 billion against a target of Sh70.01 billion.
This translated to a performance rate of 43.5 per cent, showing the difficulties counties continue to face in raising money directly from their local revenue sources.
Since the introduction of devolution in 2013, the 47 counties have continued to depend heavily on transfers from the National Treasury to finance their programmes and day-to-day activities.
The low level of internally generated revenue means counties remain vulnerable when there are delays in receiving their equitable share, which can affect their ability to keep services and other operations running smoothly.