President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the government is formidably equipped to combat criminal activities committed on digital platforms.


Uhuru was speaking at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters, Mazingira House, off Kiambu Road where he went to preside over the official opening of the agency's ultra-modern National Forensic Laboratory.

Uhuru acknowledged there is a recent wave of crime involving sim swapping and mobile money theft.


“A new wave of crime is equally emerging that involves things like Sim swapping and the typical ‘tuma kwa hii namba’ syndicate, all of which we must deal with properly,” Uhuru said.

Uhuru directed the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of ICT to propose what needs to be done to strengthen the capacity of the cyber crimes unit at the new forensic laboratory.

The head of state was taken on a guided tour around the state-of-the-art National Forensic Laboratory at DCI Headquarters.


The highly specialised laboratory is a Vision 2030 flagship project aimed at boosting Kenya's capabilities to fight complex crimes through interventions such as DNA profiling; weapons and ballistics testing; and document examination.

The operationalization of the facility is expected to enhance the investigation of serious crimes such as terrorism, murder, cyber crimes, rape, and robbery with violence, among other crimes.

The DCI said it has deployed some of its best-qualified personnel to the facility to offer their professional services in their respective fields.


"Qualified detectives in various academic scientific fields such as Computer Science, Pure Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Physics and Information Technology among others, have been deployed to offer their professional services in their respective areas of specialization," the DCI said.


Chief Justice Martha Koome, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa, ICT CS Joe Mucheru, Education CS George Magoha, Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu, Inspector General of Police Mr Hilary Mutyambai and the Director-General DCI Mr George Kinoti were present during the ceremony.