President William Ruto has nominated Lydia Sitienei Chelagat, the Director of Legal Services and Corporation Secretary at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), as the country’s next Data Protection Commissioner, setting the stage for the first leadership transition at the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) since its establishment.
Chelagat, whose nomination was announced on November 9, 2026, is expected to succeed Immaculate Kassait, Kenya’s inaugural Data Protection Commissioner, who has completed her six-year, non-renewable term.
The nomination follows a competitive recruitment process that attracted 152 applicants, with 13 candidates shortlisted for consideration. Chelagat’s appointment is subject to vetting and approval by the National Assembly.
If approved, she will take charge of a regulator that has grown significantly over the past six years, with more than 15,000 registered data controllers and processors and an expanding enforcement mandate covering financial institutions, telecommunications companies, technology platforms, healthcare providers and government agencies.
Chelagat brings legal and regulatory experience from the Communications Authority, the government agency responsible for overseeing Kenya’s telecommunications, broadcasting, postal and electronic communications sectors.
Her experience at the CA comes as Kenya’s data protection regime faces increasingly complex questions surrounding artificial intelligence, biometric identification, digital financial services and the transfer of personal information across international borders.
