The Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly has suggested changes to the budget of the National Treasury, raising the national government’s spending to KSh 2.54 trillion.
One of the changes is an increase of KSh 150 million for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). This money will help buy and maintain a system that can track social media users across the country.
The committee, led by Alego Usonga MP Sam Atandi, has set aside KSh 50 million to buy the new tracking system called Optimus 3.0.
They also added KSh 100 million for the DCI’s repetitive budget to support the forensic lab that will use the Optimus 3.0 system to monitor social media.
According to Citizen TV, this system can find social media users all over the country, taking note of who is posting what and where they are doing it, by using their connection data.
Other institutions, like the National Fund for the Disabled of Kenya, have lost as much as KSh 400 million because of changes in the budget for 2025/2026.
After weeks of discussions with different government departments, the committee presented the final budget plan for the fiscal year 2025/2026 to the National Assembly.
The National Police Service will also get an extra KSh 1.8 billion for salaries and allowances.
From this amount, the Inspector General’s office will receive KSh 800 million more for police operations, and the Office of the Deputy Inspector General for administration police will get an extra KSh 60 million for the same purpose.
