The Information and Communications University has trained 15 Zambia Police officers to extract and examine evidence from phones and computers. The harder question is whether 15 specialists can keep up with fraud that now moves through mobile money and banking apps.
By The Zambian Economist Analyst | Based on reporting by Mirriam Gaamani, ICU TV
Key Takeaways
- The Information and Communications University (ICU) has graduated 15 Zambia Police officers in digital forensics.
- The training followed ICU’s handover of a locally developed cyber security system, winner of the 2023 Hakainde Hichilema Innovation Award, to the Police Forensics and Cybercrime Department.
- Officers trained in evidence extraction and the examination of electronic devices, skills courts need when a case rests on a phone, a laptop or a transaction record.
- Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba said cyber-enabled crime, from online fraud to identity theft, is a growing threat to Zambia.
Fifteen Zambia Police officers are now qualified in digital forensics after completing a programme run by the Information and Communications University (ICU) in Lusaka. They graduated as part of a partnership between the university and the Zambia Police Service aimed at building the force’s capacity to investigate cybercrime.
What the officers learnt
The programme covered digital forensics, evidence extraction and the examination of electronic devices. In practice, that means recovering data from a seized phone or computer, preserving it so it holds up in court, and explaining what it shows.
Speaking for the graduates, Digital Forensic Analyst Allan Mulenga said the training had strengthened their knowledge of specialised forensic tools. He said the skills would improve their ability to acquire, examine, analyse and present digital evidence.
A partnership that began with software
The training did not start in a classroom. ICU first handed over a locally developed cyber security system to the Police Forensics and Cybercrime Department. The system won the 2023 Hakainde Hichilema Innovation Award. Training officers to use tools of this kind was the next step.
What the Inspector General said
Guest of honour Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba said the university’s contribution came at a time when Zambia, like many countries, faces more cyber-enabled offences. He listed online fraud, identity theft, financial cybercrime and the manipulation of electronic evidence.
Mr Musamba said universities have a role in national security when they turn research and technical knowledge into practical solutions.
ICU Vice Chancellor Prof. Serah Kalambo Mbetwa said education must contribute directly to the country’s development priorities, and that universities have a duty to produce graduates who can deal with real problems in society.
Why this matters for your money
Most Zambians now move money through a phone. Salaries arrive by bank transfer, school fees go by mobile money, and small traders take payment on the same device they use for WhatsApp. When a fraudster empties an account or takes over a SIM card, the evidence sits on devices and in transaction logs. Without officers who can read that evidence properly, many of these cases stall before they reach court.
For banks, mobile money operators and their customers, the practical test is simple: does a complaint about online fraud now lead to an arrest and a conviction more often than before? That is the measure by which this programme will be judged.
Is 15 officers enough?
Fifteen trained analysts is a start, not a national capacity. Zambia has ten provinces and a police service spread across them. The graduates will need equipment, case management systems and a steady pipeline of colleagues behind them. Neither ICU nor the Zambia Police Service has said publicly how many more officers will be trained or when.
The partnership shows what a local university can offer a public institution when it builds and supports its own technology. Whether it grows into a sustained training programme will decide how much difference it makes to the victims of cybercrime.
Source: ICU TV report by Mirriam Gaamani. Related reading: ACC Probes Seven Complaints from Zambia’s 2025 Audit Report.
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