Ontological disruption or data colonialism?Institutionalising Kibagenge for artificial intelligence integration in Kenyan Higher Education

Amon Kipyegon Kirui ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol. 7 No. 8 2026 Article 1 pp. 913 – 926
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2026781 Published online 29th September 2026.

© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 55
19 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Kenyan Higher Education can be described as the technological imperative to preserve Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). However, this paper questions this integration as a possible site of data colonialism, a condition in which indigenous epistemologies are packaged as discrete, alienable information packs to be trained by Western algorithms. This study utilised a Critical Policy Discourse Analysis (CPDA) of a corpus of 15 AI policy documents spanning global mandates, continental strategies, and Kenyan national laws. An analysis of public and private universities’ AI guidelines was also carried out to identify a systemic failure. The findings reveal that the ontological erasure of the communal, relational character of IKS is a consequence of institutions’ uncritical adherence to individualistic Western legal frameworks. To fill this gap, the study proposes a new Kipsigis framework, Kibagenge. This paper proposes that to adequately decolonise AI in institutions, extractive governance models must be replaced with Indigenous Data Trusts (IDTs) and Kokwet ethical protocols, which enforce collective consent. The paper concludes that Kibagenge is not merely a cultural critique but a required methodological and policy construct for reclaiming epistemic sovereignty in Kenyan higher education. The paper’s contribution to scholarship is threefold: (i) it formalises Kibagenge as a decolonial framework for AI and data governance; (ii) it operationalises the Agenge / Tiliet / Chamyet triad into a five-tier policy diagnostic (global → continental → national → public university → private university); and (iii) it proposes concrete institutional instruments, Indigenous Data Trusts, the Kokwet ethical protocol, and Tiliet-based procurement, for Kenyan universities.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Data Colonialism, Kibagenge, Kenyan Higher Education and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS).

Abiodun, F. “Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous Knowledge: Ethical Pathways for Cultural Preservation and Sustainable Development [Technical Report].” University of Cologne, 2025.

Akpa-Inyang, Francis, and Sylvester C. Chima. “South African Traditional Values and Beliefs Regarding Informed Consent and Limitations of the Principle of Respect for Autonomy in African Communities: A Cross-Cultural Qualitative Study.” BMC Medical Ethics 22, no. 1 (December 14, 2021): 111. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-021-00678-4.

Appiah, Richard. “Gurus and Griots: Revisiting the Research Informed Consent Process in Rural African Contexts.” BMC Medical Ethics 22, no. 1 (December 23, 2021): 98. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-021-00659-7.

Appiah, Richard, Giuseppe Raviola, and Benedict Weobong. “Balancing Ethics and Culture: A Scoping Review of Ethico-Cultural and Implementation Challenges of the Individual-Based Consent Model in African Research.” Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 19, no. 3 (July 18, 2024): 143–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/15562646241237669.

Birhane, Abeba. “Algorithmic Injustice: A Relational Ethics Approach.” Patterns 2, no. 2 (February 2021): 100205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100205.

Couldry, Nick, and Ulises A. Mejias. “Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject.” Television & New Media 20, no. 4 (May 2, 2019): 336–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418796632.

Eyitayo, A. “The African Union Agenda 2063 and Data Protection: Prospects, Challenges, and Policy Implications.” Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Science 1, no. 2 (2024): 65–70.

Hassan, Yousif. “The Politics of Memory: NLP Models as Liberating Artifacts.” Science, Technology and Society 29, no. 4 (December 31, 2024): 517–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/09717218241282551.

Ketere, Collins. “Decolonizing Artificial Intelligence: Reducing Algorithmic Biases in African Educational and Linguistic Contexts.” Journal of Contemporary Issues in Open Distance and E-Learning 2, no. 1 (November 26, 2025): 18–37. https://doi.org/10.71060/7qk9nd52.

Khurana, Shivam. “Decolonizing Artificial Intelligence: Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Epistemic Pluralism, and the Ethics of Technology.” Journal of Computer Allied Intelligence 3, no. 3 (June 30, 2025): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.69996/jcai.2025013.

Kipchamba Legacy. “Kipchamba Legacy,” 2024.

Kotsokoane, Frida Mafuri, and Solly Matshonisa Seeletse. “Caught in the Loop: Faculty Narratives on Challenges with Institutional Research Committees.” Educational Challenges 30, no. 2 (August 26, 2025). https://doi.org/10.34142/2709-7986.2025.30.2.05.

Kwet, Michael. “Digital Colonialism: US Empire and the New Imperialism in the Global South.” Race & Class 60, no. 4 (April 14, 2019): 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396818823172.

Maduka, O. C, and S Akintola. “Decolonisation and Self-Regulation as Alternative Paths to Data Science Health Research Governance in Africa. Wellcome Open Research, 10, Article 380. .” Wellcome Open Research, 2025.

Mhlambi, S., and S. Tiribelli. “ Decolonizing AI Ethics: Relational Autonomy as a Means to Counter AI Harms.”  Topoi 42, no. 3 (2023): 867–80.

Mohamed, Shakir, Marie-Therese Png, and William Isaac. “Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence.” Philosophy & Technology 33, no. 4 (December 12, 2020): 659–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00405-8.

Ofosu-Asare, Yaw. “Developing Classroom ICT Teaching Techniques, Principles and Practice for Teachers in Rural Ghana without Access to Computers or Internet: A Framework Based on Literature Review.” The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology 41, no. 3 (2024): 262–79.

Roberts, Jennafer Shae, and Laura N. Montoya. “In Consideration of Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Data Mining as a Colonial Practice,” 180–96, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47451-4_13.

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa. “Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide.” Paradigm Publishers, 2014.

Sethy, Mayadhar. “Artificial Intelligence and Epistemic Justice: A Decolonial Turn through Indigenous Knowledge Systems.” AI & SOCIETY 41, no. 5 (May 17, 2026): 5401–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-026-02936-8.

Soysal, Yilmaz. “Science Teachers’ Conceptual Perspectives on Scientific Experiments: A Metaphorical Representation.” Research in Science & Technological Education 43, no. 4 (2025): 1182–1207.

Taylor, Linnet. “What Is Data Justice? The Case for Connecting Digital Rights and Freedoms Globally.” Big Data & Society 4, no. 2 (December 2017): 205395171773633. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951717736335.

Thatcher, Jim, David O’Sullivan, and Dillon Mahmoudi. “Data Colonialism through Accumulation by Dispossession: New Metaphors for Daily Data.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 34, no. 6 (December 26, 2016): 990–1006. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775816633195.

Amon Kipyegon Kirui is a lecturer in the Department of Music and Performing Arts at Kabarak University, Kenya, and an adjunct lecturer at the African Musicology Institute, University of Venda, South Africa. His research examines digital music economies, platform capitalism, and the influence of generative artificial intelligence on African musical arts, alongside the decolonisation of African music studies and questions of sonic coloniality. Working at the intersection of empirical audience research and African epistemology, he draws on Ngoma theory and related indigenous frameworks to interrogate authenticity, emotional resonance, and cultural value in contemporary music. He is also an active performer and practitioner embedded in East African and pan-African music culture.

Kirui, Amon Kipyegon. “Ontological disruption or data colonialism? Institutionalising Kibagenge for artificial intelligence integration in Kenyan Higher Education.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 7, no.8 (2026): 913 – 926.https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2026781

© 2026 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal