Embu, Narok and Wajir lead county fiscal performance but lack clear gender budgets

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

What you need to know:

- Embu, Narok and Wajir scored Grade B in fiscal performance, but their gender budgets remain difficult to track.

- Budget reports show inconsistent reporting of gender allocations and spending in Kenya’s three top-performing counties.

Embu, Narok and Wajir were the only counties to receive an overall Grade B in the 2024/25 financial year. But the budget records reveal that tracking money set aside for gender programmes in these leading counties is inconsistent and unclear.

No county achieved an overall Grade A in the latest County Fiscal Performance Measurement Index developed by Parliament’s Parliamentary Budget Office. Embu had the highest score among the three at 0.689, followed by Narok at 0.608 and Wajir at 0.605.

The index looks at how well counties manage their budgets, development spending, own-source revenue, wages, pending bills, county assembly spending and audit matters. An analysis of the counties’ budget implementation review reports by the Office of the Controller of Budget shows that all three counties fund gender-related programmes. But the way the allocation and expenditure is reported varies.

2022/23

In the 2022/23 financial year, Embu had a gender mainstreaming and development sub-programme. The county allocated Sh3.04 million for recurrent spending and Sh7.58 million for development, giving a total approved allocation of Sh10.63 million. It spent Sh2.76 million of the recurrent allocation and Sh5.29 million of the development allocation, with absorption rates of 90.7 per cent and 69.7 per cent, respectively.

Narok reported a gender affairs and social services sub-programme, with a recurrent allocation of Sh21.86 million. It spent Sh14.89 million, absorbing 68.12 per cent. No development allocation is shown for the sub-programme in the report.

Wajir had a gender and social services sub-programme, with Sh138.89 million allocated for recurrent spending and Sh1.2 million for development. It spent Sh93.08 million of the recurrent allocation, absorbing 67 per cent, and the full Sh1.2 million development allocation, giving an absorption rate of 100 per cent.

2023/24

In Embu, the gender mainstreaming and development sub-programme was again reported under the gender and social development programme. The report records Sh25.48 million in recurrent expenditure and Sh1.42 million in development expenditure. Recurrent spending had an absorption rate of 94 per cent, while a development absorption rate was not provided.

Narok reported a gender and youth development programme with an approved budget of Sh328.65 million. It spent Sh305.68 million, giving an absorption rate of 93 per cent. However, the figure covers both gender and youth, and the report does not show how much was specifically allocated to gender.

In Wajir, gender promotion services received Sh75.80 million for recurrent spending and Sh4 million for development. The programme absorbed 98 per cent of the recurrent allocation and 25 per cent of the development allocation.

2024/25

For Embu, the county lacks a separate gender budget line. Instead, the figures are reported under the broader youth empowerment, sports and gender empowerment department. Narok likewise lacks a distinct gender budget line, and gender does not feature in the name of any of its broader departments. In Wajir, gender falls under the broader education, youth, gender and social services department, with gender covered within the broader allocation.

A recent analysis on the impact of devolution on women and girls, prepared by the Council of Governors’ Gender Committee with support from UN Women and the UN Capital Development Fund, shows that gender departments often receive minimal funding, making it difficult to implement planned interventions.

The committee recommends that “every county establish a well-resourced gender department in terms of human and financial resources. This will enable the county governments to comply with gender equality, diversity and inclusivity principles provided by the Constitution and the County Government Act, 2012.”

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.