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About our District
District 9200 comprises the five
East African countries Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The geographical
variation ranges from beautiful coastal beaches (both in Kenya and
Tanzania), to Mt. Kilimanjaro,
the highest mountain in Africa and
Lake Victoria, the largest fresh water lake in Africa. The Big Five
- lion, leopard, elephant, rhino
and buffalo - still roam our vast savannahs and bush land. The equator
passes through Kenya and Uganda. The total population of all five countries
is about 130 million in an area of 3,139,000 sq kms. The total number
of active Rotary Clubs serving this vast and diverse area is 105
and its population is more than 2900 Rotarians.
History of the District
When the Rotary Club of Nairobi was chartered on 8th September 1930, it joined the District 55 which, at that time consisted of - Belgium Congo, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. There were a total of 13 Rotary Clubs, 10 clubs in South Africa and one club each in other countries.
In
1949/50 the District was re-numbered 25 and in the following year it
was split into 2 districts to form District 25 and District 26. District
25 consisted of 24 clubs in tour countries with 1036 members. These countries
were Kenya, Southern Rhodesia, Tangan¬yika and part of South Africa.
At that time there were 2 clubs in Kenya: one in Nairobi and the other
in Mombasa. The Rotary Club of Mombasa was chartered on 24 May 1944,
and the RC of Dar-es-salaam was chartered on 25 January 1949.
During the next decade, Rotary spread to South West Africa in 1952, Zambia in 1953, Ethiopia in 1961, Malawi in 1955, Swaziland in 1955, Uganda in 1957, Madagascar in 1958, and Reunion Islands in 1960.
Due to expansion of Rotary, District 220 came into existence consisting of 9 countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesia, South West Africa, Madagascar and part of South Africa - with 48 clubs and a total membership of 1644. Ethiopia was not part of the District 220, although the RC of Addis Ababa was chartered on 17 February 1961.
In 1963/64 there was a further shuffle of countries and District 220 then consisted of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Madagascar and Reunion. The first DG of the new District 220 was the late J.R. Gregory from Kenya.
In subsequent years, Rotary clubs were formed in Mauritius in 1964, Comoro Island in 1965, and in the territories of Afars and Issa, now called Djibouti, in 1967. The RC of Victoria, Seychelles was chartered in 1969 and RC of Gaborone in Botswana in 1972. The RC of Zanzibar which was formed in 1961 and was also part of the District 220. However, the club closed down in 1964 after the revolution. The RC of Mogadishu in Somalia was chartered in 1961/62 but had to close down in 1972 due to the uncertain situation in the country.
In 1977/78 the District was re-numbered 920. There were 45 clubs with a membership of 1504 in 12 countries - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion, Seychelles, Djibouti and Comoro Islands.
Ten years later, the District was split into District 920 and 921. The seven countries in District 920 were Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles and Djibouti. There were 34 clubs with 1175 members. The first DG of District 920 was Sam Owori of Uganda. In the reshuffle, Tanzania was transferred to District 921.
In 1991/92 Rotary International added zero "0" to all districts and hence the District became 9200. In 1996/97 a further split and reshuffle occurred. There were 4 countries in the new District 9200 with 66 clubs - 20 in Kenya, 35 in Uganda, 8 in Tanzania and 3 in Ethiopia - with a total membership of 1791. Amin Merali of RC of Mombasa was the first DG of the restructured District 9200.
RC of Asmara in Eritrea was chartered in 1997 and added into District 9200.
As of 30 June 2004 there were 100 clubs in our District 9200 - 29 in. Kenya, 54 in Uganda, 11 in Tanzania, 5 in Ethiopia and 1 in Eritrea - with a membership of about 2,600.
Compiled from the article prepared by PDG Amu Shah
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