Last Saturday I attended a party to celebrate the officialĀ recognition of Kenyan Wikimedia community asĀ 39th Wikimedia Chapter.Ā Kenya became the second chapter in Africa after South Africa. The statement posted on wikimediafoundation.org reads:
In accordance with the recommendation of the Chapters Committee, confirming that the structure and bylaws of Wikimedia Kenya comply with the requirements and guidelines for chapters, The Board of Trustees provisionally recognizes Wikimedia Kenya as a Wikimedia Chapter and grants it permission to use the Wikimedia trademarks, pending signature of a Chapters Agreement.
This provisional recognition and permission will expire in one year unless a Chapters Agreement is signed, at which point recognition and trademark use will be governed by the terms of the Agreement for as long as it is in force. The provisional period may be extended at the discretion of the Foundation’s Executive Director.
Wikimedia Kenya isĀ a chapter of Wikimedia that servesĀ Kenya. The main aim of the chapter is to help collect, develop and disseminate freely accessible and usable information.
Almost three years down the lineĀ the Wikimedia Kenya Community has carried out variousĀ activities in Kenya including creating local content for Wikipedia, the Wikipedia for Schools Project, Wikipedia takes Nairobi . And the unanimous approval of the Wikimedia Kenya is a clear testimony of the good workĀ the Kenyan Community has been doing.
[pullquote]Wikimedia Kenya is a Wikimedia chapter whose aim is to promote Wikim|pedia and other free educational resources in Kenya. The initiative to start up this chapter was spearheaded by Abbas Mahmood, with co-founders Oliver Stegen, Oscar Limoke & Dennis Munene. Currently, the chapter has more than 30 members.[/pullquote]