The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Communication Information and Innovation chaired by Hon. William Kisang has today vetted a Data Commissioner nominee Ms. Immaculate Kassait.

If approved, this will be the first ever data office in Kenya. Ms. Immaculate Kassait was nominated by His Excellency the President in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 (4) of the Data protection Act, 2019.

The nominee was put to task to explain her preparedness in overseeing the management of data in the country, the ICT sector which involves cyber-crime and other threats on data security.

The Committee also interrogated the nominee on the process of establishment of the new office challenging her on the magnitude of work that required her operational independency of the office.

She was questioned on the management of digitized data including the current ongoing data collection on the provision of Huduma numbers in Kenya.

She was also put to task to explain how she would handle the management of huge multi-national data users and data processors including facebook, twitter, amazon, google and other inter-government data management. 

Ms. Kassait is the current Director Voter Education Partnerships and Communication at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) where she is responsible for overseeing the effective and efficient execution of Commission voter education, civil education and promoting a culture of democracy.

She has called for an extensive regulatory framework to help establish the new data management office to enhance its independency of the office to ensure its smooth operation.

In regards to improving the digital economy, she made it clear that she will facilitate the creation of employment to the youths by spurring innovations and collaborating with relevant stakeholders in digital economy.

The Committee is expected to write and table a report on the vetting process in the House for consideration and further debate.