Outgoing Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait says her biggest achievement was turning data protection into a national conversation, Capital FM reported. Before her six years at the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), the issue was largely unfamiliar. "I think we've made data protection a conversation in this country," she said.
Kassait recalled early resistance when the regulator first wrote to organisations demanding compliance. Some institutions replied: "Who are you?" Over time, she said, organisations increasingly had to account for how they handled personal information.
According to TechMoran, Kassait took office in November 2020 after the Data Protection Act, 2019 was passed. The office started with fewer than 10 employees, many seconded from other agencies. It worked from offices provided by the Communications Authority. It now has its own headquarters, regional offices and desks at Huduma Centres.
Registrations of data controllers and processors passed 15,000 by early 2026, up from 7,223 in 2024, TechMoran reported. By early 2026, the ODPC had handled 9,061 complaints. Many targeted digital lenders accused of misusing borrowers' data. Others involved healthcare providers, schools and businesses accused of using photographs without consent.
The biggest case of her tenure involved Worldcoin, which collected iris scans from Kenyans in exchange for digital tokens. In May 2025, the High Court ordered the data deleted under ODPC supervision. In January 2026, the regulator confirmed that Tools for Humanity, the company behind the project, had deleted it.
Kassait warned that artificial intelligence raises new questions. She asked whether people whose data trains AI systems are told it will be repurposed. She also said reliance on foreign cloud infrastructure weakens Kenya's hand in negotiations with global tech firms. "Some of those negotiations are always lopsided," she said.
She listed unfinished work, including ratifying the Malabo Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection and legal reforms on mutual legal assistance. President William Ruto nominated Lydia Sitienei Chelagat, the Communications Authority's Director of Legal Services, on Monday to succeed her. The National Assembly must approve the appointment. Kassait said her successor should be free to set their own priorities.