The Devolution Envelope: How the KES 502B Equitable Share & Conditional Grants Reach 47 Counties
Official Provenance & Verification Stamp
Source: Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) 3rd Basis Formula & Division of Revenue Act (DORA) 2026
Standard: Statutory & Constitutional · Analyst Signoff: Lead Devolution Analyst
Total Devolution Pool
KES 502.0B
+5.8% YoY
Unconditional Equitable Share
KES 428.0B
Direct county exchequer
Conditional Grants
KES 74.0B
CAIPs, UHC, FLLoCA
Equalisation Fund
KES 9.6B
14 marginalised counties
What This Means For You (Citizen Summary)
- Under Article 202 & 203 of the Constitution, counties are guaranteed an unconditional equitable share of national revenue, set at KES 428B for FY 2026/27.
- The CRA 3rd Basis Revenue Sharing Formula distributes funds based on Population (18%), Health Services (17%), Agriculture (10%), Poverty Level (14%), Land Area (8%), and Basic Equal Share (20%).
- Additional conditional allocations totaling KES 74 Billion are earmarked for specific national priorities like Community Health Promoters and County Industrial Parks (CAIPs).
- The Equalisation Fund distributes KES 9.6 Billion to 14 marginalized arid and semi-arid counties to provide basic water, roads, and electricity.
1. The Division of Revenue Architecture
Before counties receive any funds, Parliament passes the **Division of Revenue Act (DORA)**, which divides nationally raised ordinary revenue between the National Government and County Governments.
2. The CRA 3rd Basis Allocation Parameters
The Commission on Revenue Allocation distributes the unconditional equitable share among the 47 counties using the following audited parameters:
- **Basic Equal Share (20%)**: Shared equally across all 47 counties regardless of size.
- **Population Index (18%)**: Sourced from the official KNBS census.
- **Health Services Index (17%)**: Sourced from inpatient/outpatient hospital attendance and health facilities.
- **Poverty Index (14%)**: Poverty gap metric to lift economically disadvantaged regions.
- **Agriculture Index (10%)**: Value of crop and livestock production per county.
- **Land Area Index (8%)**: Geographic land size requiring infrastructure.
- **Road Network Index (8%)**: Maintained road kilometers.
- **Fiscal Effort & Prudence (5%)**: Reward for counties improving Own-Source Revenue (OSR).
Questions Answered in this Dossier
The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) 3rd Basis formula uses 8 weighted parameters: Basic Equal Share (20%), Population (18%), Health (17%), Poverty (14%), Agriculture (10%), Land Area (8%), Roads (8%), and Fiscal Effort (5%).