With Kenya’s public consultation on its draft AI and emerging technologies policy underway, the Commonwealth of Learning – Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA) launched the Kenya National Cohort of the Commonwealth Student Community for AI Governance on 6 August 2026. The virtual launch brought together students from across Kenya to examine national AI priorities and consider how young people can contribute to the country’s evolving AI governance landscape.

Addressing the new cohort, Dr. B. Shadrach, Director, COL-CEMCA, highlighted the opportunity for Kenyan students to make a direct contribution to the policy process. He encouraged students to review the draft policy and develop a collective submission, drawing attention to issues including academic and research access, gig and AI data workers, digital sovereignty and local access to computing infrastructure, protection of student creativity, indigenous language resources, and AI and data literacy for the future of work.

Prof. Kiringai Kamau, President and Global Lead for GODAN, speaking from the national perspective, encouraged students to see AI governance as a responsibility that extends beyond programmers and regulators, and urged them to help ensure that Africa’s AI future is shaped by its young people and directed towards human dignity, sustainable development and shared prosperity.

The launch also featured experience-sharing from student representatives from the India and Kenya student communities, followed by group discussions in which Kenyan students examined issues including AI policy and institutional decision-making, data sovereignty and language datasets, access to AI infrastructure, algorithmic accountability, and student community building. The groups developed recommendations addressing AI literacy, infrastructure, responsible AI use, student participation, innovation, and stronger collaboration between students, universities, industry and policymakers.

The launch concluded with a call for the Kenyan cohort to consolidate its recommendations and explore a collective student submission to the ongoing national AI policy consultation. It marks the beginning of Kenya’s participation in the Commonwealth Student Community for AI Governance and provides a platform for Kenyan students to contribute to national, Commonwealth and wider global discussions on AI governance.