The Rise and Fall of a Cyber Prodigy: The Seth Mwabe Heist

 By Mutunga Tobbias

The Common Pulse | August 2025

In a daring cyber incident that shook Kenya, 26-year-old Seth Mwabe, a second-year Information Technology student at Meru University, was arrested on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at his Tatu City residence in Kiambu County. Authorities linked him to a hacking scheme that siphoned KES 11.4 million from a payment service provider, facilitating a massive heist from a major betting firm. 

A High-Stakes Cyber Heist Unfolds

According to investigators from the DCI’s Banking Fraud Investigations Unit, Mwabe and his accomplices managed to bypass cybersecurity safeguards in July. The breach went unnoticed for some time, enabling the transfer of millions of shillings before authorities caught wind.

Agents executed the arrest during a dramatic raid, breaking down Mwabe’s door after he initially refused to respond. Inside his apartment, they recovered a safe, a money-counting machine, and what was described as a fully equipped computer laboratory, presumably used to orchestrate the attack. 

From University Dropout to Cybercrime Suspect

Seth Mwabe had dropped out of Meru University during his second year of pursuing a Bachelor’s in IT. Yet despite his truncated education, he claimed to be a self-taught cybersecurity engineer. Since 2017, he asserted, he had been offering consulting services to firms, though what form these services took remains murky.

A Nation Divided: Public Reaction

Once news of the arrest broke, Kenyans took to X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and other platforms, expressing strong and varied opinions:

• Some urged the state to harness Mwabe’s talent:

  “Arresting and putting such brains behind bars … is nasty business.” — @AlhajiKe
  “Hacking is a great skill, use it wisely. … Black hat hacking is a crime.”  @kevdysanky 

• Others questioned selective enforcement:

  “They can go after those who steal millions in 3 sec, but somehow the ones looting billions … remain untouched.” — @nvgitau

Meanwhile, critics highlighted alleged mishandling of evidence by law enforcement and called for introspection over how cybercrime is managed in Kenya.

Bigger Context: Kenya’s Cybersecurity Crisis

The heist comes amid a rising tide of digital threats in Kenya. Between October and December 2024, over 840 million cyber events were detected, ranging from brute-force attacks and malware to DDoS and mobile app intrusions. Weak password protocols, misconfigured systems, and low cyber awareness, especially in government and critical infrastructure, have left the country vulnerable. 

Seth Mwabe’s case underscores the paradox of talent misapplied, but also the pressing need for better cyber risk management nationwide. This incident has brought into sharp relief the question: Should the state imprison such a gifted individual, or redirect that skill to fortify Kenya’s digital defenses?

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