Nairobi, June 27 -- County governments opened 199 additional unauthorised commercial bank accounts in the three months to March, pushing the total number of irregular accounts to 6,585 in a development that raises fresh concerns over transparency in the management of devolved funds.

A new report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows the number of commercial bank accounts operated by counties rose from 6,386 in December last year, despite longstanding concerns over the proliferation of accounts outside the approved framework.

Under the Public Finance Management Act, counties are expected to hold their accounts at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), with only a limited number of special-purpose accounts permitted in commercial banks after ...