Opinion Piece: Building Digital Trust: Kenya’s Path in the Age of AI Weaponization

By Stephen Isaboke, EBS

In today’s digital age we are experiencing a shift in how we share and receive information. While we have more data at our fingertips than ever before, it has become increasingly complex for the public to tell the difference between verified truth and sophisticated digital falsehoods. 

As I shared with delegates at the Connected Africa Summit 2026 in Nairobi, this is no longer just a small problem of the internet; it is a serious challenge to our national social fabric. 

When technology is used to create realistic but fake videos, known as deepfakes, it moves beyond a simple communication hurdle and becomes a risk to our national stability. We are entering an era where the weaponization of Artificial Intelligence poses a direct risk to our stability. AI weaponization isn't limited to autonomous drones on a physical battlefield; it includes the deployment of "information oratory" bots designed to incite civil unrest, the automation of large-scale cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and the use of generative models to destabilize financial markets.

This issue is especially relevant for Kenya. Recent research shows that over 72% of our citizens are concerned about the spread of unverified news. Our vulnerability is partly due to how much time we spend online; Kenya’s 18.4 million active social media users spend an average of four hours every day on the internet, double the global average. Because many people feel a trust gap regarding the information they see, these digital platforms can unfortunately become frontlines for cognitive warfare, where confusion is engineered to weaken public resolve. Our goal as a Government is to close this gap by providing accurate, timely, and credible information while hardening our defenses against these digital munitions.

One of the most complex parts of this new technology is what we call the linguistic blindspot. Most global AI systems are built to understand English, which means they often miss the nuances of our local languages like Swahili and other indigenous tongues. If a harmful message is spread in a local language, global systems might not catch it as quickly as they would in English. 

This is why the Government of Kenya believes in digital sovereignty, which is the idea that we must have the tools and the expertise to protect our own digital borders and our own people in our own languages.

To address these challenges, we are moving from being just users of foreign technology to being leaders in creating it. Our National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2025–2030) focuses on building technology that understands the Kenyan context and respects our values.

While we leverage AI for healthcare and agriculture, we are simultaneously building a National Cyber-Defense Framework that utilizes AI to detect and neutralize automated threats in real-time. We are building technology that understands the Kenyan context, respects our values, and, most importantly, protects our sovereignty.

We are supporting this vision with a massive investment in our country's infrastructure, known as the Digital Super-highway, which includes the laying of 100,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable to connect every corner of Kenya. 

This expansive network is complemented by the establishment of 1,450 Jitume Hubs in every ward to provide our youth with high-level digital skills, alongside the installation of 25,000 free public WiFi hotspots to ensure that every Kenyan can join the digital economy safely. 

The Jitume Hubs are not just for basic literacy; they are being geared to provide our youth with high-level skills in cybersecurity and AI ethics, turning our young population into a digital reserve capable of defending our information ecosystem.

The question I posed at the Summit—"Regulate, Remove, or Rebuild?"—is about more than just rules. It is about building a digital environment that is secure, transparent, and worthy of the public’s trust. By teaching our youth to be creators of technology and by ensuring our laws protect our citizens, we can make sure the Age of AI becomes a time of great opportunity for Kenya. Africa is ready to lead this transition, ensuring that technology serves as a bridge to progress and a protector of the truth.

Stephen Isaboke is the Principal Secretary for Broadcasting and Telecommunications in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.