The Department started in 1999 as an offshoot from an existing combined Mathematics and Computer Science Department. Then Computer Science was just another Science subject which could emerge as a second major subject alongside any of the physical Science subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. This was later replaced by focused degrees which saw the Department run three B.Sc. degrees namely Computer Science, Data Communication Technology and Information Systems during 2001 until 2007. Unfortunately, as the years went bye, the student population shrank to the extent that the Department could no longer justify expanding to sustain three focused degrees. During this same period the Department was nurturing an expanding postgraduate (Honours, Masters and Doctoral) programme with good completion record. The response of the University to this undergraduate diminishing-student-population fortune of the Department is to get back to the double major degree which simply is a B. Sc. with one of Hydrology, Mathematics, Chemistry or Physics as a second major to Computer Science.
Therefore the three focused degrees are being faced out from 2008 to 2010 when the double major B.Sc. would remain as the only degree option for students. However, during the first 10 years of existence, the Department was able to develop a strong research centre with training capability for up to doctoral qualification in Software Engineering for Mobile Computing and E-Services.