What is the claim
In an October 2025 media interview, Governor Orengo said that when he first assumed office, our annual own-source revenue was about KSh 300 million. He went on to assert that “in the last financial year, we were about KSh 900 million.”
The comment appears intended to show significant improvement under his administration’s revenue-mobilisation reforms (automation, new valuation roll, etc.).
In other words: Yes — he claims OSR rose from ~KSh 300 million to ~KSh 900 million.
According to the latest published report from Controller of Budget (CoB), Siaya County’s own-source revenue (OSR) for the 2024/2025 financial year was KSh 436.68 million, far below the claimed ~KSh 900 million.
The same CoB report shows that the amount collected represents only 47 % of the county’s own-source revenue target for that year.
In previous years under Orengo: For 2022/2023 the CoB reported OSR at KSh 402.23 million, and in 2023/2024 (or thereabouts) at around KSh 446.4 million or KSh 468.6 million depending on the source.
There is no publicly-available audited record corroborating a jump to ~KSh 900 million OSR in 2024/2025 — the CoB data is the most recent independent source and indicates under-performance, not over-achievement.
Source Claimed/Reported OSR Key Detail
Governor Orengo interview (2025) ~KSh 900 million “Last financial year … about KSh 900 million”
CoB 2024/2025 report KSh 436.68 million Official OSR collection figure for the period
The gap is huge — nearly KSh 464 million. That is more than a two-fold difference.
The CoB report reflects what many analysts consider the standard, verifiable accounting for county revenues; it underpins budget performance across all 47 counties.
Therefore, unless the county government produces a credible, independently audited breakdown to show where the extra ~KSh 464 million came from — and why it was excluded or omitted from the CoB report — the claim that OSR reached ~KSh 900 million does not stand verification.
Possible explanations for the divergence between the Governor’s claim and the CoB data include:
Different definitions of “own-source revenue”: It’s possible that the Governor counts additional categories (e.g. appropriations-in-aid (AIA), hospital reimbursements under special programmes, arrears clearance, pending claims from health schemes, or other non-standard revenue streams). CoB’s published OSR might exclude such items.
Timing differences: The Governor might be using provisional, internal county-government ledgers or more up-to-date collections that were not yet audited or submitted to CoB by the cut-off date of the official report.
Reporting or accounting irregularities: There may be genuine discrepancies in the county’s financial data, delays in remittance, or failure to reconcile hospital funds, reimbursements, or AIA receipts as OSR under CoB’s classification rules.
Political / public-relations motive: Given that counties are often judged and ranked publicly on OSR performance, there is incentive to portray revenue collection in the best light — which may lead to optimistic or inflated self-assessment when the audited numbers lag.
At present, there is no independent public data supporting Governor Orengo’s claim that Siaya’s own-source revenue rose to ~KSh 900 million in 2024/2025. The certified figure from CoB — widely considered the benchmark — is KSh 436.68 million, nearly half the claimed amount.
Thus: the claim remains unverified. For credibility, the county government would need to publish a detailed, audited revenue breakdown explaining the extra amount and reconciling it against CoB standards. Until then, any assertion of “KSh 900 million” should be treated with scepticism.
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