Nairobi City County has entered the 2026/2027 financial year without an approved budget after the County Assembly failed to pass the budget estimates before the June 30 statutory deadline, raising concerns over delays in the implementation of development projects and service delivery.
The budget stalemate comes amid claims by sources familiar with the negotiations that a section of Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) is demanding Sh10 million each before approving the 2026/27 budget.
The allegations, which the county administration has not publicly addressed, have cast a shadow over the budget-making process as the new financial year begins.
Sources close to several MCAs, however, accused the County Executive of sidelining and ignoring elected ward representatives in the planning and implementation of development programmes, saying the strained relationship has contributed to the current deadlock.
“The Executive has continued to ignore MCAs on matters affecting their wards, and that has created serious dissatisfaction within the Assembly,” one source close to the legislators claimed.
Another source familiar with the negotiations alleged that the budget had become a bargaining tool at a politically sensitive time, with many MCAs preparing for what could be their final term ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The source further warned that the prolonged impasse could also affect the County Assembly itself, noting that the budget provides funding for both the Executive and the Assembly’s operations.
“The Assembly also depends on this budget for its own operations. Delaying its approval ultimately affects both arms of the county government,” the source said.
With the new financial year now underway, concerns are mounting over possible delays in the implementation of county programmes, payment of contractors, procurement of goods and services, and the rollout of development projects across the capital.
In the absence of an approved budget, the county government is expected to rely on constitutional and statutory provisions that permit limited expenditure to ensure essential public services continue until the budget and the accompanying Appropriation Act are enacted.
The proposed 2026/27 budget is expected to finance the completion of modern markets across Nairobi, road construction and rehabilitation, expansion of drainage infrastructure, installation of street lighting in estates, construction of new stadiums and completion of ongoing sports facilities, bursaries for needy students, and allocations to the Ward Development Fund.
The spending plan also proposes no new county taxes. A key beneficiary of the budget is expected to be the Dishi na County school feeding programme, one of Governor Johnson Sakaja’s flagship initiatives, which currently provides nutritious meals to more than 316,000 learners in over 230 public primary schools across Nairobi’s 17 sub-counties. The programme has been credited with improving school enrolment and attendance, with plans for further expansion.
The budget also provides for continued funding of other flagship programmes under the Sakaja administration, including healthcare reforms, expansion of road infrastructure, drainage improvements to mitigate flooding, waste management, environmental restoration through the Green Nairobi initiative, affordable housing support infrastructure, and investment in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres and vocational training institutes.
Politically, the 2026/27 budget is viewed as one of the most significant spending plans of the current administration, as it is likely to be the last full-year budget to be substantially implemented before campaigns for the 2027 General Election gather momentum.
Any prolonged delay in its approval could slow the execution of flagship projects, disrupt service delivery, delay payments to suppliers and contractors, and complicate the county government’s development agenda at a time when political activity is expected to intensify.
