The National Treasury has engaged the public in the unveiling of the 2025/2026 – 2027/2028 Final Year and Medium-Term Budget with an aim of sensitizing the people on the milestones achieved and future projections of the government.
Speaking during the second day of the National Treasury and Economic Planning Public Sector Hearings for the FY 2025/26 and the Medium-Term Budget held in Nairobi, the Principal Secretary (PS) for ICT and the Digital Economy Eng. John Tanui announced that the government, through the Ministry, has managed to complete the construction of the Konza National Data Centre during the last financial year.
In the digital economy subsector, the PS added that the Ministry has provided 7,066 public institutions including hospitals with internet connectivity and noted that they have installed 1,491 public Wi-Fi hotspots across the country.
“We have also laid 13,129 kilometers of fiber network and managed to onboard 17,668 government services to the E-citizen portal,” added Eng. Tanui.
He also announced that they have managed to recruit and train 1,200 ICT interns under the Presidential Digital Talent Program (PDTP).
On the Broadcasting and Telecommunication subsector, the PS stated that the Ministry has produced, printed and disseminated the Kenya Yearbook publications, Agenda Kenya Publications, and the Cabinet Series publications.
“In the Big Four Agenda publications, we have standardized and published public sector advertisements in the weekly MyGov publications,” Eng. Tanui emphasized.
He highlighted that the institutions under the Ministry have established two additional Studio Mashinani to create employment opportunities to the youth and added that they have increased the National TV coverage from 86 percent to 98 percent.
“The government has trained 2,385 media practitioners in information and cinematic arts at Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) and through the institutions under the Ministry, we have accredited 27,552 journalists and media practitioners,” disclosed the PS.
He highlighted the emerging issues in the ICT sector like the rapid growth of the digital economy as well as the adoption of artificial intelligence for enhanced economic competitiveness and service delivery.
The PS at the same time revealed that in the next financial year, the government is committed to fully onboarding 13,800 government services on the E-citizen platform.
“We will provide internet connectivity to 44,575 public institutions, complete the construction of Horizontal Phase 1 at Konza Technopolis and lay 38,871 km of backbone fiber network,” affirmed Eng.Tanui.
On the Broadcasting and Telecommunication sector, he detailed that the government would operationalize the National Communications Center (NCC), train 3,000 media practitioners and establish four more Studio Mashinani in Kisii, Eldoret, Kakamega and Garissa Counties.
“We will also install solar power in 42 Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Stations and accredit 27,000 journalists out of which 9,800 journalists will undertake on-job training,” pledged the PS.
Meanwhile, he encouraged the public to adopt artificial intelligence and diversification of investments due to rapid technological advancements.
“We should also explore alternative funding sources for various projects and have a strengthened strategic communication on programs and projects,” he stressed.
The PS noted that the ICT sector is an enabler for the realization of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and called for continuous investment to build a more resilient economy.
By Gift Maina and Manu Mumba
