President William Ruto has appointed Dr. Martin Koyabe as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Kenya’s National Cybersecurity Agency. The appointment gives the veteran ICT and cybersecurity specialist a three-year mandate to help steer the country’s cyber resilience agenda. 

 Dr. Koyabe’s term began on 21 August 2026. His appointment comes as Kenya continues to strengthen its national cybersecurity capabilities amid rising risks to government systems, critical infrastructure and the wider digital economy. 

 As chairperson, he is expected to provide strategic oversight as the agency works to advance Kenya’s national cybersecurity strategy, protect critical infrastructure and strengthen the country’s capacity to detect and respond to cyber threats. His responsibilities will also include supporting the operationalisation of the National Cybersecurity Operations Centre and initiatives to develop cybersecurity skills and expertise in the country. 

Dr. Koyabe brings more than 30 years of experience in ICT, telecommunications and cybersecurity, spanning research, engineering, policy development and capacity building. He was among the first Kenyan engineers to help establish full Internet connectivity in the country in the mid-1990s, during his time at the African Regional Centre for Computing. The work placed him at the centre of Kenya’s early transition into the global Internet and the development of its digital infrastructure. 

He later spent a decade as a senior researcher and technical lead at British Telecommunications, where he worked on technology and telecommunications research and development. Koyabe later spent seven years leading technical support and consultancy at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. In that role, he worked with governments on cybersecurity strategies, policies and related digital capacity-building initiatives. 

More recently, he served as Senior Advisor for Africa at the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, leading programmes to strengthen cybersecurity capacity across the continent. He is also a founding partner of Africa Cyber Expertise, further extending his work in cybersecurity capacity building and professional development. 

Dr. Koyabe holds a PhD in Communications Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, following earlier studies at Egerton University, the University of Nairobi and the University of Bristol. His executive education includes training at Cambridge Judge Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. He also holds several technology patents, reflecting a career that has combined technical research and engineering with policy, strategy and institutional leadership. 

His appointment brings together technical expertise, international experience and knowledge of government-level cybersecurity policy at a time when Kenya’s digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly central to its economy and public services. His experience working across telecommunications, research, government advisory and international cybersecurity programmes is likely to be particularly relevant to the agency’s efforts to translate national cybersecurity priorities into operational capabilities. 

Over his three-year term, Dr. Koyabe will focus on helping the agency strengthen the systems, institutions and skills needed to protect Kenya’s digital environment and respond effectively to an evolving cyber threat landscape.