Security agencies get more budgetary allocation to enhance operations

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu allocated the National Security a total of Sh377.5 billion.

Of these, Defence was allocated Sh173 billion, National Police Service Sh110.6 billion, National Intelligence Service Sh46.3 billion and Kenya Prisons Sh32.7 billion.

Further, Sh13.9 billion was allocated for leasing of police vehicles and Sh918.4 million for developing National Forensic Laboratory.

This was an increase by almost Sh40 billion as compared to the 2023-2024 budget.

In his first budget of 2023-2024, treasury CS Ndungu had allocated security sector a total of Sh338. 2 billion.

The money was shared among the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), National Police Service (NPS), National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Kenya Prisons Service (KPS).

KDF took the lion's share of Sh144.9 billion followed by the National Police Service with Sh98.6 billion.

The NIS took Sh44.3 billion and the Prisons Service scooped Sh31.3 billion.

In other allocations, Sh8.8 billion was used for leasing police vehicles to allow easy movement and another Sh500 million was used to modernize police equipment.

To aid in the administration of Justice, Sh856 million went to equipping the National Forensic Library and another Sh534 was retained by the KDF for their housing programmes in the first budget under Ruto.

Ruto also set aside Sh2.9 billion for Group and personal insurance for the National Police and Prison services. They also got Sh5.8 billion for medical cover.

To facilitate the recruitment of police in the 2024-2025 financial year, the CS allocated Sh3.2 billion for trainee allowances, police equipment, food rations, and uniforms. This allocation falls short of the required Sh5.03 billion, despite national security being among the sectors receiving the highest budgetary allocations.

The last nationwide recruitment for police officers occurred in March 2022.

In the 2022-23 national budget, police and military, got some of the biggest allocations. The security sector was allocated Sh317.8 billion, to be shared between the National Police Service (NPS), Defence, and National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Defence got Sh128.4 billion while the NIS got Sh46.4 billion. The police and prison service was allocated Sh122.2 billion. Sh10.7 billion went into leasing police vehicles, Sh1 billion into the police modernization program, while another Sh1 billion was used for the national communication and surveillance system.

Sh335 million was set aside for the purchase of pieces of equipment for the newly constructed forensic laboratory at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). NPS and Prisons was allocated Sh4.8 billion for medical insurance and Sh2.3 billion for group personal insurance.

The State Department for Internal Security and National Administration was allocated Sh36.15 billion for its operations in the FY 2024-25.

In the budget estimates read by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u in Parliament, the government plans to spend Sh15.18 billion to equip 283 sub-county offices with modern ICT equipment.

The State Department will also spend a total of Sh19.57 billion on administration and support services, including the establishment 26 ports of entry and exits with joint operation centres and training of 300 of officers securing the country’s borders.

Other areas under this budget line include digitisation of firearms licencing records, operations of the Kenya Coast Guard Service and mitigating disasters as a result of climate change as well as security operations to curb the proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons.

Of the Sh19.57 billion, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and the National Peacebuilding Directorate have been allocated Sh627 million to run peace building and conflict resolution programmes and investigate all cases of hate speech.

The Government Chemist was allocated a total of Sh41 million for scientific caseanalyses throughout the year.

Some Sh1.4 billion was allocated for policy coordination services, including the campaign against drug abuse targeting school children, teachers and parents as well as counselling services for drug abuse victims.

The Public Benefit Regulatory Authority will receive Sh92 million next financial year to support registration and regulation of charitable institutions.