Homa Bay County workers contend two-week salary delay

Civil servants working at the Homa Bay County Government have to contend with salary delay for a second week now.

The workers have been told to wait until the end of this week to earn their January pay, with the delay being blamed on the National Treasury.

Homa Bay County Secretary Bernard Muok, in a memo to all staff members dated Friday, February 6 2026, sought to explain the delay.

Since taking office, Muok said Governor Gladys Wanga has emphasised numerous times her commitment to improve staff welfare, which involved, among others, early payment of salary.

“While this will not change, the County is experiencing a delay in processing and disbursement of salaries for the month of January 2026. The delay has been occasioned by late release of funds from the National Exchequer,” the County Secretary said.

He added; “We wish to assure all staff that the County Treasury is working diligently to resolve the issue and salaries will be paid within 5 working days. The County Government regrets any inconvenience caused by the delay and appreciates your continued patience and understanding.”

County workers had complained that the delay was causing them inconvenience since some of them had prior commitments which include loan deductions that may now attract penalties.

Last month, the Council of Governor’s (CoG) raised concerns that the national government delays over Sh68 billion in revenue allocations is leaving staff salaries, contractor payments, and critical services hanging in the balance.

Some of the counties have often amide local arrangements with their bankers to provide them with overdrafts which they use to process salaries while awaiting for Treasury’s disbursement.

Counties are often compelled to turn to high-interest bank loans to cover urgent expenses, while others struggle to keep operations running even as employee unions threaten industrial action to pile pressure.

CoG said that the delayed funds include Sh33.2 billion for December and Sh35.27 billion for January, following a late November transfer released only recently.

“To maintain essential services, we have had to rely on borrowing to pay salaries and meet immediate obligations. Once funds are released, we repay the loans,” Governor Wanga said last month.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi then dismissed claims of a crisis, noting that only two months have experienced delays.

“The government does not have a liquidity problem unless one seeks to create one. Have you heard counties complain that they lack funds to run their operations? We have worked diligently to ensure that delays in disbursements are a thing of the past,” Mbadi said three weeks ago.