DPP Renson Igonga/HANDOUT
The partnership brings together prosecutors and telecommunications experts for a three-day capacity-building workshop in Nairobi.
It is aimed at equipping Kenya's justice system with the technical skills required to investigate and prosecute increasingly sophisticated digital offences.
Officially opening the workshop, Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga said the changing nature of technology-enabled crime required the justice system to develop equally advanced capabilities.
“The nature of crime has fundamentally evolved. Modern criminality is no longer localised; it is instantaneous, sophisticated, and transnational,” Ingonga said.
The collaboration seeks to strengthen prosecutors' ability to trace digital evidence, disrupt illicit financial flows and build stronger cases against individuals suspected of exploiting mobile and fintech platforms.
According to the ODPP, criminals are increasingly using technology to facilitate offences, creating complex digital trails that require specialised knowledge to trace and present as evidence in court.
The ODPP said the growing use of digital platforms has also created new avenues for financial crimes.
Among the methods being exploited are SIM-swap attacks, social engineering, credit fraud and schemes involving money mules who move illicit funds through multiple mobile wallets.
The three-day training is intended to help prosecutors understand the technology behind such offences and translate complex digital trails into evidence that can be presented before courts.
Ingonga said traditional approaches to prosecution were no longer sufficient to address technology-enabled crime, calling for closer cooperation between prosecutors, investigators and technology service providers from the early stages of investigations.
He also called for mechanisms that would enable authorities to respond quickly to cyber incidents while remaining within the law and protecting privacy.
These include data preservation, production orders and the freezing of suspected illicit funds, measures that could help authorities prevent the movement or destruction of digital evidence and criminal proceeds.
The DPP said collaboration with technology and telecommunications companies was important because of the increasingly technical nature of cybercrime investigations.
Safaricom Group Chief Risk Officer Nicholas Mulila acknowledged the ODPP's efforts in prosecuting cybercrime and other technology-related offences.
Mulila commended prosecutors for their guidance and cooperation in efforts to strengthen the pursuit of justice in cases involving technology.
“As technology continues to evolve, so too must our collective ability to detect, investigate and prosecute those who exploit it for criminal purposes,” Mulila said.
He said continued cooperation between technology companies and justice sector agencies would be important in responding to emerging threats in the digital space.
