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President William Ruto has actually chosen Lydia Sitienei Chelagat, the Director of Legal Services and Corporation Secretary at the Communications Authority of Kenya( CA), as the nation’s next Data Protection Commissioner, setting the phase for the very first management shift at the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) considering that its facility.
Chelagat, whose election was revealed on November 9, 2026, is anticipated to be successful Immaculate Kassait, Kenya’s inaugural Data Protection Commissioner, who has actually finished her six-year, non-renewable term.
The election follows a competitive recruitment procedure that drew in 152 candidates, with 13 prospects shortlisted for factor to consider. Chelagat’s visit goes through vetting and approval by the National Assembly.
If authorized, she will organize a regulator that has actually grown substantially over the previous 6 years, with more than 15,000 signed up information controllers and processors and a broadening enforcement required covering banks, telecoms business, innovation platforms, doctor and federal government companies.
Chelagat brings legal and regulative experience from the Communications Authority, the federal government company accountable for managing Kenya’s telecoms, broadcasting, postal and electronic interactions sectors.
Her experience at the CA comes as Kenya’s information security routine deals with progressively complicated concerns surrounding expert system, biometric recognition, digital monetary services and the transfer of individual details throughout global borders.
The ODPC was developed under the Data Protection Act, 2019, to control the processing of individual information, safeguard people’ personal privacy rights and implement compliance amongst organisations managing individual info.
Under Kassait, the regulator presented registration requirements for certifying information controllers and processors, developed grievances and examinations systems, and started enforcing administrative charges versus organisations discovered to have actually breached information security laws.
Among its most popular regulative disagreements included Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency-linked digital identity task that gathered biometric info from Kenyans in exchange for digital tokens.
In May 2025, the High Court purchased the removal of biometric information unlawfully gathered through the job. The ODPC consequently monitored the removal procedure, with the regulator validating in January 2026 that the info had actually been erased.
The regulator has actually likewise examined problems including digital loan providers, organizations implicated of sharing consumers’ individual info without authorization, and organizations declared to have actually stopped working to protect delicate information.
Kassait’s administration assisted position Kenya within global personal privacy regulative networks, with Nairobi picked to host the 2027 Global Privacy Assembly, an event of information security authorities from worldwide.
Chelagat signed up with the Communications Authority in December 2023 and has more than 15 years of experience in legal services, business governance and regulative affairs. She formerly acted as General Manager of Legal Services and Company Secretary at the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), along with Group Company Secretary and Head of Legal Services at CPF Financial Services.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Strathmore University Business School. The Standard
Her election was made on the suggestion of the general public Service Commission (PSC), according to Government Spokesperson Charles Owino.
“The election has actually been sent to the National Assembly for factor to consider, in fulfilment of the legal requirements set out under the Data Protection Act, Cap 411C, Laws of Kenya,” Owino stated. Daily Nation
The inbound commissioner will be accountable for imposing Kenya’s information defense legislation, examining personal privacy problems, monitoring compliance by public and personal organizations, and managing the processing of individual details.
For innovation business, banks, digital lending institutions and telecoms operators, the management modification comes as regulators deal with installing concerns about how client info is gathered, monetised, moved and utilized to establish expert system systems.
Chelagat will likewise acquire concerns about the regulator’s capability to implement choices versus international innovation business, enhance cross-border information defense plans and guarantee federal government digital services adhere to personal privacy laws.
Under the Data Protection Act, the commissioner serves a single, non-renewable six-year term.
The National Assembly need to now think about Chelagat’s election before she can officially presume workplace, with the shift anticipated to form Kenya’s technique to information personal privacy guideline over the next 6 years.
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