{
  "id": 9810472,
  "title": "Controller of Budget exposes sharp rise in county commercial bank accounts to 6,503",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/25/controller-of-budget-exposes-sharp-rise-in-county-commercial-bank",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-25T18:37:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "People Daily Kenya",
    "slug": "people-daily-kenya",
    "url": "https://peopledaily.digital/business/controller-of-budget-exposes-sharp-rise-in-county-commercial-bank-accounts-to-6503"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Controller of Budget has revealed a significant surge in the number of commercial bank accounts operated by Kenya's 47 county governments, raising concerns over compliance with public finance management rules. As of June 30, 2026, counties operated 6,503 commercial bank accounts, marking a 27.7% increase from the previous financial year, when they operated 5,092 accounts. This rise of over 1,400 accounts was driven by sharp increases in several counties, with West Pokot recording the largest growth, adding 235 accounts. Other counties with notable increases included Siaya, Nyeri, Migori, Kajiado, and Kakamega. Conversely, some counties saw declines, with Kisumu reducing its accounts from 190 to 54, and Kwale falling from 240 to 176. The Controller of Budget's findings highlight broader issues of financial management among devolved governments, with counties collecting Ksh96.08 billion in own-source revenue, accounting for 90.25% of their combined target, while also accumulating Ksh113.29 billion in revenue arrears. The report also noted that counties spent 76.60% of their combined budget but utilized only 54.21% of their Ksh233.69 billion development allocation, with 189 stalled projects worth Ksh10.51 billion remaining outstanding.",
  "summary": "Kenya’s 47 county governments increased the number of bank accounts operated in commercial banks by 1,411 in one year, raising fresh questions over compliance with public finance management rules. According to the Controller of Budget’s County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report for FY 2025/26, counties operated 6,503 commercial bank accounts as of June 30, 2026, […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}