Kenya Information

Kenya Information
Kenya header

AT A GLANCE

  • First Church presence in Kenya:  1970s
  • Church received legal status: 1991
  • Kenya Nairobi Mission created: 1991
  • Current number of congregations: 46
  • Current number of stakes: 1
  • Current Church membership in Kenya: 12471
  • Nearest temple:  Johannesburg, South Africa

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN KENYA

1970:  Two congregations were organised, one in Nairobi and one in Nakuru.

1980:  The first full-time missionaries arrive in Kenya.

1991:  Joseph W. Sitati, an elder in the Church, met with Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi.  The Church was legally recognised and could now purchase property for meetinghouses.  The Kenya Nairobi Mission was organised with Larry Brown as President. 

1992:  In times of famine the Church literally saved the lives of many Chyulu inhabitants by shipping food, digging wells, and teaching farming techniques that led to self-sufficiency.

1993:  The Chyulu Kenya District was formed. 

1994:  The first meetinghouse in the country built for the Langata Branch in Nairobi was completed.

1998:  President Gordon B. Hinckley visited Nairobi.  He spoke to over 900 members who had gathered from surrounding areas. Kenya was assigned to the Africa Southeast Area.

2001:  The Nairobi Kenya Stake, the first in Kenya, was organised on 9 September 2001 with Joseph W. Sitati as president.

2002:  Three new meetinghouses were dedicated by Elder Robert C. Oaks of the Seventy and Africa Southeast Area President in the Chyulu District.

2004:  Joseph W. Sitati was called as an Area Authority Seventy, the first from East Africa.