Kenya's new National Cybersecurity Agency formally got its governing board on Monday, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen telling members to move fast and build local capacity to defend the country's networks against a sharp rise in attacks.

Murkomen inaugurated the board, chaired by Dr Martin Koyabe, at Harambee House in Nairobi on November 2, 2026. He described cybersecurity as "a matter of national security, economic security, public safety and national sovereignty" and said the board had his full support.

Two months to set up shop

The CS asked the board to hold a two-day retreat within a week to draft the human resource instruments the agency needs, and to submit them to the relevant government offices for approval.

He said the coming two months should be used to put in place the agency's top management and staffing structures ahead of January 2027, and that the government would help secure funding and suitable office space.

Murkomen said he did not want the agency to run for long on officers seconded from other departments. Instead, he wants qualified Kenyans hired through an open process. "We would like an institution that starts immediately," he said, according to People Daily.

Home-grown talent and solutions

The CS urged the board to partner with universities and research institutions to train a skilled cyber workforce, and to operationalise a cybersecurity centre of excellence.

"Let's please develop talent, research and indigenous cyber defense solutions," he said, adding that Kenya already has many young people with the right skills.

He called for a national approach that is "proactive rather than reactive, coordinated rather than fragmented," while protecting both national interests and constitutional rights.

According to KBC, the board is also expected to strengthen the National Cybersecurity Operations Centre so that it can detect, analyse and respond to threats in real time, and to shore up protection of critical infrastructure.

Attacks more than doubled

The push comes as attacks on Kenyan systems climb. Communications Authority of Kenya data cited by KBC shows Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which flood websites and networks with junk traffic to knock them offline, reached 72.16 million in the year to June 2026, up 114.3 per cent from the previous year.

The agency was created under the State Corporations (National Cybersecurity Agency) Order, 2026, published as Legal Notice No. 89 of 2026, and approved by Parliament in June. It is set up as an autonomous regulatory and technical body to coordinate national cybersecurity matters, develop national strategies and run the national operations centre.

President William Ruto named Koyabe, a cybersecurity scholar, as the first chairperson in August for a three-year term. Murkomen later added Lorna Ogolla Omondi and Dr Jerop Joy Kibor to the board.

Monday's inauguration means the agency can now begin hiring and setting up its operations, with the government aiming to have it fully running early next year.

Photos: People Daily (screen grab of the inauguration at Harambee House); KBC (Dr Martin Koyabe). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.