Turkana’s Development Spending Drops Sharply in first half of FY 2025/26, Despite Higher Budget Allocation
Development spending in Turkana County has recorded a significant decline in the first half of FY 2025/26, raising questions about project implementation despite an overall increase in the county’s budget.
According to the County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report by the Controller of Budget, the county spent KSh 911.03 million on development programmes during the review period, marking a 54% drop compared to KSh 2 billion spent in a similar period in FY 2024/25.
The report highlights key development projects with the highest expenditure across sectors such as administration, agriculture, water, and social protection.
These include construction of administrative offices, staff housing, drip irrigation schemes in wards like Lokiriama, Kalapata, and Kaputir, as well as water infrastructure projects such as borehole drilling and rehabilitation of rural water supply systems in areas like Elelea, Morulem, and Kakelae.
Notably, several projects, especially in water and irrigation, recorded full (100%) expenditure against allocated funds by December 31, 2025, indicating progress in specific interventions despite the overall drop in spending. These projects are critical in addressing water scarcity and supporting livelihoods in arid regions.
On donor-funded projects, substantial investments were made in groundwater-based rural water supply schemes across locations including Lowarengak, Kori, and Nariamao, with cumulative expenditures running into tens of millions of shillings.
Despite the reduced development spending, the county did not report any stalled projects as of December 31, 2025, suggesting that implementation challenges may not necessarily be tied to project abandonment but possibly to delays in fund absorption or execution timelines.
The spending trends come against the backdrop of an expanded county budget. The Turkana County Approved Supplementary Budget for FY 2025/26 stands at KSh 19.91 billion, reflecting an increase of KSh 2.69 billion (16%) from FY 2024/25. Of this, KSh 7.60 billion (38%) is allocated to development, while KSh 12.30 billion (62%) goes to recurrent expenditure. In the previous financial year, the county had allocated KSh 6.64 billion to development and KSh 10.57 billion to recurrent spending.
This contrast between increased budgetary allocation and reduced actual development expenditure in the first half of the financial year points to potential inefficiencies in budget absorption, raising concerns about the pace of service delivery and project implementation.
