Ruto Signs New Law Set To Reshape County Funding
President William Ruto has signed the new Public Finance Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Bill establishes new standards for the management, reporting, and oversight of public finances at both the national and county levels.
On Tuesday, September 8, Ruto signed the legislation at State House in Nairobi, with three other bills: the National Council for Population and Development Bill, the Air Passenger Service Charge (Amendment) Bill, and the Trust Administration Bill.
The new PFM law establishes a framework for transferring functions between the national and county governments, including costing, resource allocation, financing, and responsibility of transferred services.
Assented to four transformative Bills at State House, Nairobi.
The new pieces of legislation mark a major step forward in strengthening governance, accountability and service delivery in our country.
The Public Finance Management Amendment Bill strengthens prudent management of… pic.twitter.com/yAGbHElRSz— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) September 8, 2026
It also provides for the transfer of assets and liabilities linked to such functions, creating a clearer financial framework when responsibilities move between the two levels of government.
Another major change is the introduction of accrual accounting across public entities.
The change requires government institutions to recognise financial transactions based on when they occur rather than solely when money is received or paid.
County governments will also be required to pass their Finance Bills before the beginning of a new financial year, aligning county revenue measures more closely with the national government’s budget cycle.
The law further requires statutory deductions, including taxes and pension contributions, to be remitted to the institutions entitled to receive them once they are deducted from employees or other payments.
At the same time, financial reporting timelines have also been tightened.
Accounting officers are now required to submit financial statements to the Auditor-General within two months after the end of the financial year, down from the previous three-month period.
The legislation also gives Parliament and county assemblies 21 days to consider key budget documents, up from 14 days, before decisions are made.
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The amendments further introduce consequences for public entities that fail to implement recommendations arising from reports by the Auditor-General and Controller of Budget.
These include findings adopted by Parliament or county assemblies.
The changes are intended to strengthen accountability in the management of public resources, improve financial reporting and ensure that recommendations by constitutional oversight institutions translate into corrective action.
Ruto said the four laws signed at State House marked a major step in strengthening governance, accountability and service delivery.
He noted that the Public Finance Management amendment would strengthen the prudent management of public resources.
Ruto Signs New Law Set To Reshape County Funding
