The government of Kenya has allocated KSh 150 million to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to purchase and operate a social media surveillance system known as Optimus 3.0
This funding is part of the 2025/26 budget and was presented by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.
The amount includes KSh 50 million meant for the equipment and KSh 100 million for operational expenses.
According to Citizen Digital this money will be used to monitor and track online activity across platforms raising questions about digital privacy and government surveillance.
Reports from Daily Nation gave a slightly different figure mentioning only KSh 100 million which may have referred to the equipment portion only but the wider consensus points to a total of KSh 150 million Mbadi included this allocation under the “DCI forensic lab Optimus 3.0 Social Media” line item and it comes at a time when other security agencies are also receiving increased funding including an extra KSh 1.8 billion to the National Police Service.
Optimus 3.0 is described as a powerful surveillance tool capable of identifying social media users linking them to devices and locations through connection data and monitoring their activity.
The system is intended to address threats such as cybercrime fake news and hate speech.
However critics and privacy advocates argue it could violate personal freedoms and allow mass surveillance without proper legal oversight.
The allocation has attracted political attention with former Speaker Justin Muturi warning that the government is already engaged in surveillance with the latest one being that of Albert Ojwang who was traced by DCI and they finally ended killing him and that the new laws being pushed through Parliament are aimed at formalizing what he described as existing practices.
This development is also happening alongside debate on the Kenya Information and Communication Amendment Bill 2025 which would give more powers to the Information Cabinet Secretary to access digital user data without requiring a court order.
Although John Mbadi has not made any specific comments about the KSh 150 million surveillance system his budget statement acknowledged the use of zero based budgeting where every allocation must be justified Optimus 3.0 has been included as part of efforts to modernize national security and respond to growing online threats but public debate continues over whether this move is justified or if it goes too far in limiting civil liberties.
Different media houses have reported slightly varied figures but most agree that the DCI will receive KSh 150 million for this project.
The matter continues to be discussed in Parliament and it remains one of the most controversial items in the current budget with civil society and digital rights defenders closely watching how the surveillance program will be implemented.
