National intelligence service flag. [Photo/jaluo.com]Ahead of next month’s repeat presidential election spy agency NIS has been allocated Sh3.2 billion more, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the mini-budget that the Treasury has submitted to Parliament.Through the Interior ministry, the police have also been allocated an extra Sh4.6 billion, meaning the security sector alone will consume nearly Sh8 billion during the October 26 presidential election.Treasury CS Henry Rotich submitted the supplementary budget estimates to Parliament for approval before releasing the funds as required by law.
The mini-budget statement says the additional Sh3.2 billion to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is for “enhancement of security operation.”Only the National Assembly, through its Defence and Foreign Relations committee, is granted access to the agency’s spending details.Security experts, however, said it was normal for NIS to get additional cash through mini-budgets, pointing to the recent allocation of money to the agency to boost its counter-terrorism intelligence gathering and surveillance in the wake of sporadic attacks.Questions, however, remained over allocation of such large amounts of money for an election.