The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has dismissed a report published in one of the local dailies that it is surveilling mobile phones and other digital devices of Kenyans.
In a statement, the DCI has refuted the claims, published in today’s Daily Nation, as false and sensational, aimed at misguiding the public and undermining the integrity of the investigative agency.
In a piece titled ‘How DCI spies on your phone’, the Daily Nation had documented how government agencies, DCI included, spy on Kenyans, accessing their personal data from telcos illegally. The peice had cited two case scenarios where security agents were accused of installing spyware on the phones of two detainees linked to ‘Blood Parliament’ documentay, reviving concerns about privacy violations through illegal surveillance targeting governmen critics.
But in a rejoinder, the DCI said they cannot disclose specific details about the allegations of the filmmakers at this time, since they are now a matter of ongoing court proceedings.
“We want to assure the members of the public that the DCI operates strictly within the confines of the law,” the DCI says. “Our commitment to upholding the rights and privacy of all Kenyans is unwavering, and we do not engage in any activities that compromise these constitutional principles.”
FlexiSPY surveillance
The four film makers linked to the BBC documentary ‘Blood Parliament’ allege that the Kenyan government secretly planted surveillance software on their electronic devices while the gadgets were in police custody.
A forensic report by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has confirmed that the phone of one suspect, Nick Wambugu, was infected with the commercial spyware FlexiSPY while it was in state custody.
According to the report, Adagala’s phone was confiscated by police on May 2, 2025, and returned more than two months later, on July 10, 2025. Citizen Lab’s analysis shows that FlexiSPY was installed on the device on May 21, 2025, at 17:17 GMT—during the period when the phone was held by authorities.
FlexiSPY is a widely available surveillance tool capable of covertly recording calls, capturing messages, tracking location, taking screenshots, activating microphones, and even deleting or altering data. It has previously been linked to the targeting of activists, journalists, and dissidents, as well as use by criminal networks.
Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, specializes in investigating digital threats against civil society.
