Malawi Police Service has said about 40 to 60 percent of cases it records now involve electronic evidence, a development that highlights the growing importance of digital technology in criminal investigations.
In this regard, the police have teamed up with Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) to improve their capacity to investigate technology-enabled crimes and trace perpetrators.
Speaking during a joint engagement between Macra and police in Lilongwe yesterday, Inspector General of Police Richard Luhanga said the two institutions should develop a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide a framework for stronger collaboration.
event. | Charles Chipingasa, Macra
“The meeting has provided an opportunity for the two institutions to identify areas of cooperation, including resources, capacity building, technology and technical expertise because we both have complementary roles in tackling emerging digital crimes,” he said in a statement made available to The Nation.
Macra board member Innocent Kafodya said the rapid growth of mobile phones, internet access, mobile money and other digital services has brought significant benefits and created opportunities for criminals to exploit technology.
He said criminals are increasingly using mobile phones, social media, mobile money platforms and other digital technologies to defraud people, steal personal information and impersonate legitimate businesses and individuals.
On his part, Macra director general Mayamiko Nkoloma said low levels of digital literacy are contributing to some of the challenges experienced in the digital space.
“We have noted that people go online and do all sorts of things that technology allows them to do without fully understanding the digital ecosystem and that puts them in trouble,” he said.
Nkoloma said continuous public awareness is needed to promote responsible digital behaviour, including helping users understand what they should and should not do when using digital platforms and services.
During the meeting, the two institutions discussed practical areas of cooperation, including knowledge sharing, capacity building, coordinated resources and stronger institutional mechanisms, with the aim of strengthening Malawi’s digital security and protecting citizens from technology-enabled crime.
In 2025, police recorded 41 181 cases, including sexual offences, burglary, housebreaking and homicide.
The National Survey on Access and Use of Information and Communication Technologies by Households and Individuals in Malawi for 2023 showed that 68.9 percent of individuals used mobile phones, while 41 percent used smartphones.
Asked whether the representatives were family members, noting that a Malawi Defence Force officer, Major Flawless Matungwi, represented the three deceased soldiers.
“Does this really confirm that it is the family members who were present or gave consent for the postmortem as we have one person appearing as representing the three bodies?” he asked.
Kafwafwa said the committee would seek further clarification from the doctors who conducted the postmortems.
Former CID director Jessie Nyirongo told the committee that she ordered that the bodies should not be collected until post-mortems were conducted.
She said police considered the collection of Lapukeni’s body without clearance improper and that she later went to the mortuary and stopped the collection of other bodies before post-mortems.
