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Kenya Haiti mission, DCI upgrades get extra Sh6bn in mini-budget
Members of the first contingent of Kenyan police stand in formation after arriving in the Caribbean country as part of a peacekeeping mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on June 26, 2024.
The National Treasury has allocated an additional Sh6.3 billion to support Kenya’s ongoing security mission in Haiti and implement system upgrades at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Disclosures from the National Treasury in the recently tabled supplementary budget show the approved funding towards expenditure to the National Police Service rose to Sh114.97 billion from Sh108.68 billion in the current fiscal year ending June 2025.
“The approved estimates have been revised…reflecting a net increase of Sh6.3 billion on account of the multi-national security support mission to Haiti, enhanced security operations and maintenance and upgrade of systems under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations,” the Treasury said in its disclosures.
“Other changes are on account of reallocation of funds,” it added.
The National Police Service has various programmes under its umbrella including the Kenya Police, Administration Police, Criminal Investigation, General Paramilitary, and administration, planning, and support services.
General administration and support services received more than double the initial allocation by an additional Sh7.46 billion to Sh14.4 billion, up from Sh6.97 billion. This additional funding went towards goods and services.
Allocation towards Kenya Police and the Administration Police both suffered a cut of Sh949.9 million and Sh1 billion, respectively.
Criminal investigations received an additional Sh732.7 million to Sh9.87 billion in the current fiscal year.
The extra funding for the Kenya mission in strife-torn Haiti is a morale booster to the officers there who had for months faced financial uncertainty.
Kenya in June last year sent a contingent of police officers to Haiti to help restore order to the country, where gangs have seized control of almost the entire capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as large bands of rural areas.
The Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) has since recaptured portions of territories from the gangs amid pushbacks that turned violent this week, leaving an officer killed.
The officer, 26-year-old police constable Samuel Kitwai, was on patrol with the international security force in Haiti when he was killed in a confrontation with gang members. This is the first casualty suffered by the MSS.
In late November last year, there were claims of disquiet in the Kenya-Haiti mission on concerns of cash flow challenges. National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, however, said that the Treasury approved an additional Sh2.16 billion for the mission.
Out of the Sh2.16 billion, Sh181.09 million has already been disbursed to the National Police Service for security operations in the gang-led Caribbean country.
