Kampala — A cybercrime prevention centre has been launched in Uganda to fight crime related to the misuse of the internet and such other technologies.

Speaking at the centre's launch in Kampala last week, Ms Josephine Nabukenya, the dean, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, Makerere University, said: "According to a 2004 research, 90 per cent of respondents said they had been victims of identity theft whereas at least 25 per cent confessed to having got involved in activities related to cybercrime."

The African centre for Cyberlaw and Cybercrime Prevention is an initiative of the United Nations' African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of offenders. The Computer Misuse Bill that is expected to curb crime was passed by Parliament recently and is only awaiting approval by the president to make it law.