Kenya appoints first data protection commissioner

According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Kenya has appointed its first ever data protection commissioner. Immaculate Kassait was appointed by the Kenyan president to actualise the Data Protection Act 2019. AllAfrica reports that Kassait’s nomination paves the way for the roll-out of an electronic civil registry (known as Huduma Namba) which was temporarily halted by the justice in 2019. A national court had ruled that the launch of the Huduma Namba was unconstitutional as there were no explicit data protection laws and a data commissioner in place.