Safaricom and Kenya DPP Partner on Cybercrime Prosecution

In Short

• Safaricom and Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions have started a three-day workshop in Nairobi.
• The focus is cybercrime and fintech fraud, especially cases tied to mobile money and digital finance.
• Prosecutors are being trained to trace digital evidence and follow illicit money flows.

What Happened

Safaricom and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) have partnered to strengthen how Kenya prosecutes cybercrime and fintech fraud. The collaboration began on August 26, 2026 with a three-day capacity-building workshop in Nairobi.

The goal is to help prosecutors understand how technology-enabled crimes work and how to present complex digital trails in court. “Digital trails” are the traces left behind in systems like phone networks and payment apps, similar to footprints that require technical tools to follow.

Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga said crime linked to technology is now faster and often crosses borders. The ODPP says this is making investigations harder, because criminals can hide behind multiple accounts, devices, and intermediaries.

The training covers common schemes affecting mobile and fintech platforms. These include SIM-swap attacks, where criminals take over a victim’s phone number to access accounts. It also includes social engineering, which is tricking people into sharing PINs or one-time passwords, and money mules, people who move stolen funds through multiple wallets.

Ingonga also called for faster legal tools for incident response. He cited steps like data preservation, production orders, and freezing suspected illicit funds, so evidence and proceeds are not moved or deleted.

Safaricom Group Chief Risk Officer Nicholas Mulila said closer cooperation between technology firms and justice agencies matters as threats evolve.

Why It Matters

Cybercrime and fintech fraud are increasingly tied to everyday services like mobile money, online banking, and digital lending. Better prosecution can raise the cost of fraud by improving conviction rates and asset recovery.

For fintechs and telecoms, clearer collaboration with prosecutors can also speed up investigations while keeping actions within the law, including privacy protections. That can reduce customer losses and protect trust in services such as M-PESA and other digital finance channels across Kenya.