TURKANA – Turkana County employees are still waiting for their July 2026 salaries, with the county government blaming delays in processing in Nairobi while the Controller of Budget says counties must take responsibility for submitting complete budgets on time.
In a notice dated August 10, the Turkana County Government informed staff that payment of July salaries had been delayed due to “slow processing by relevant offices in Nairobi.” The administration said it was working to fast-track the process and assured employees that salaries would be paid immediately once the process was completed.
The county urged staff to remain patient and apologised for the inconvenience caused.
The explanation comes as Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o places Turkana among counties whose 2026/27 budgets had not been cleared as of August 10.
Nyakang’o said Turkana was among four counties still awaiting clearance, alongside Nyamira, Isiolo and Tharaka Nithi. She said counties were required to submit their budgets by June 30 but some submitted them late, with others only doing so in August.
According to the Controller, some submissions also had critical omissions, including plans for settling pending bills, a Fiscal Strategy Paper and evidence of public participation.
The CoB’s position means the salary delay cannot be viewed solely as a problem of processing in Nairobi. Counties have to meet budgetary and legal requirements before funds can be accessed and spent through the Integrated Financial Management Information System.
Nyakang’o has previously taken counties to task over failure to requisition funds for salaries even after receiving allocations from the National Treasury.
In a report covering June 2025, Turkana was among 16 counties that had not requested funds for staff salaries despite having received their allocations. The Controller said, “16 did not request their June 2025 salaries,” with records showing Turkana, Narok and Bungoma had last drawn salaries in April.
The latest delay has also revived criticism from Turkana political leaders.
Turkana North MP Paul Nabuin has previously criticised the county government over delayed staff salaries. In a statement on August 8, Nabuin was reported as having slammed the Turkana County Government for delayed staff salaries.
The criticism comes against a backdrop of repeated salary challenges affecting county workers.
In March, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai acknowledged outstanding salary and allowance arrears affecting health workers and announced the release of Sh58 million towards settling part of the backlog.
“We are going to release 58 million very soon,” Lomorukai said, while acknowledging that another Sh35 million dating back several years remained outstanding and would have to be provided for in a subsequent budget.
The governor said clearing the arrears was necessary to restore staff morale and stabilise service delivery in the health sector.
The current July delay, however, affects the wider county workforce and comes at a time when employees are already facing mounting household financial obligations.
For county workers, the difference between the two explanations is significant.
The county says the immediate obstacle is processing by relevant offices in Nairobi, while the Controller of Budget’s position points to the need for counties to ensure their budgets are properly prepared, submitted and cleared.
The CoB has also noted that most counties have balances in their accounts following the release of July funds by the National Treasury. The challenge, she says, is that the money cannot be spent until the respective budgets are approved and the required requisitions cleared.
This means the presence of money in a county account does not necessarily translate into an immediate ability to pay salaries.
For Turkana employees, however, the immediate concern is straightforward: when will July salaries be paid?
The county has not given a specific payment date, but maintains that it is working to expedite the process and will release the salaries as soon as the outstanding procedures are completed.
The latest episode is likely to intensify scrutiny of Turkana’s financial management, particularly given that salary delays have occurred before.
For thousands of county workers, the hope is that the current impasse will be resolved quickly and that future salary payments will not be caught between county budget processes and national-level approvals.
