The latest figures from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) raise serious questions about how Homa Bay and Machakos counties are managing their public finances. At the centre of the concern are Governors Gladys Wanga and Wavinya Ndeti, whose counties are among those spending an unusually large share of their ordinary revenue on salaries.
According to the SRC’s Fourth Quarter Wage Bill Bulletin, Homa Bay spent 63 per cent of its ordinary revenue on personnel emoluments, the same level recorded by Taita Taveta. Machakos, under Governor Wavinya Ndeti, spent 58 per cent.
These figures are far above the 35 per cent ceiling set under the Public Finance Management Act.
The numbers should not simply be treated as another government statistic. They point to a deeper problem in the way county governments are balancing salaries against development needs.
When more than half of a county’s ordinary revenue goes towards paying employees, there is naturally less money available for roads, water projects, health facilities, markets, drainage systems and other services that directly affect residents.
For Wanga, the 63 per cent figure is particularly difficult to ignore. Homa Bay residents have a right to ask why such a large portion of the county’s revenue is going towards personnel costs when the law sets a much lower threshold. The governor may have explanations for the situation, including inherited staffing structures and the cost of running county services, but those explanations should not remove the need for accountability.
The same questions must be directed at Ndeti in Machakos. A wage bill consuming 58 per cent of ordinary revenue is not a small deviation from the recommended level. It is a significant gap. It means the county is spending well above the legal benchmark and putting pressure on the money available for development.
The issue is not that county workers should not be paid. Nurses, doctors, teachers, technicians, administrators and other public servants are essential to the delivery of government services.
The problem arises when the cost of maintaining the workforce becomes so high that development spending is squeezed.
The SRC figures show that some counties have managed to stay below the 35 per cent threshold. Tana River, Kwale, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu were among those that kept their wage-bill-to-revenue ratios below the limit during the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year.
This demonstrates that controlling personnel costs is possible, even though counties face different circumstances.
Across the country, county governments spent Ksh171.36 billion on salaries during the period under review, compared with Ksh154.94 billion during a similar period in the previous financial year.
That is an increase of about Ksh16.42 billion. While the ratio of personnel expenditure to revenue declined from 46.8 per cent to 44.12 per cent because of improved revenue collection, the actual amount being spent on salaries continues to rise.
The national public service wage bill is also projected to increase from Ksh1.247 trillion in 2024/2025 to Ksh1.287 trillion in 2025/2026. SRC says the rise is partly linked to expansion in the teaching, health and security sectors and periodic salary adjustments.
But county leaders cannot use rising national wage bills as an excuse to avoid scrutiny. Governors are responsible for making choices within their own administrations.
Wanga and Ndeti therefore need to explain clearly how their governments ended up with wage bills that are so far above the legal benchmark.
The concern is not about attacking county employees. It is about whether taxpayers are getting value for their money. If a county spends 63 per cent of its ordinary revenue on personnel, residents deserve to know whether the workforce is properly structured, whether there are unnecessary positions, whether payroll controls are working and whether the county is collecting enough revenue to support its obligations.
