Kisumu: The Office of the Controller of Budget (OCOB) has commenced a 10-day monitoring and evaluation exercise in Kisumu County to assess budget implementation, verify expenditure, and establish whether public funds have been utilised for their intended purposes.
According to Kenya News Agency, the exercise, which runs from September 14 to 25, will focus on the utilisation of exchequer releases authorised during the 2025/26 financial year, settlement of pending bills, the County Assembly Fund, and implementation of recommendations arising from previous monitoring exercises. Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o stated that the exercise would provide her office with an opportunity to verify information contained in its quarterly budget implementation reports by engaging county officials and examining actual expenditure on the ground.
During a meeting with Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathew Owili, who received the OCOB team at the start of the exercise, Nyakang’o mentioned that her office had not establ
ished whether any public revenue had been lost in the county but would investigate the matter during the exercise. She recommended the integration of the county revenue collection system with the accounting system to reduce the risk of revenue leakages and improve financial accountability.
According to a letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to Kisumu Governor Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, the OCOB team will assess the utilisation of Operations and Maintenance funds, including exchequer releases of Sh428.69 million for medical insurance, Sh269.86 million for domestic travel, Sh229.43 million for the Kisumu County Bursary Fund, and Sh114.50 million for legal dues and fees. The team will compare approved exchequer requisitions with actual expenditure and payments made during the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year.
The exercise will also examine the settlement of pending bills by comparing the county’s payment plan with actual payments and determining whether payments were made according to the o
rder of priority set out in the plan. The county’s pending bills have also attracted the attention of the Senate, with Governor Nyong’o recently questioned over the county’s outstanding obligations amounting to Sh5.4 billion.
Nyakang’o emphasized the need for counties to prepare a comprehensive schedule of all declared pending bills, commonly referred to as a pending bills universe, followed by a payment plan submitted to the Controller of Budget’s office. She also urged county officials to thoroughly verify financial figures with the OCOB budget coordinator before submitting the information to the office’s headquarters for compilation.
Nyakang’o further disclosed that the National Treasury’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) department was integrating requisitions approved by the OCOB with the IFMIS system to prevent the substitution of approved requisitions during payment. The integration process was at its final stage and was expected to become fully operational during the curren
t financial year.
The Deputy Governor stated that the meeting marked the official opening of the monitoring process, which would culminate in an exit meeting at the conclusion of the exercise. Owili noted that the engagement between county officials and the OCOB team was ultimately aimed at improving service delivery to residents.
The OCOB is an independent constitutional office established under Article 228 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Its mandate includes overseeing the implementation of national and county budgets by authorising withdrawals from public funds and monitoring how government resources are utilised. Since the introduction of devolution in 2013, Kisumu County has received more than Sh120 billion in cumulative revenue allocations from the national government exchequer.
