The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has created its first stake in the country of Tanzania in the Africa Central Area.
The Dar es Salaam Tanzania Stake was formed from the Dar es Salaam Tanzania District on Sunday, Jan. 26, by Elder Paul B. Pieper, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Africa Central Area presidency, and Elder George K. Munene, an Area Seventy.
Officially the United Republic of Tanzania, the country has a coastline along the Indian Ocean, the plains of the Serengeti and Mount Kilimanjaro — Africa’s highest mountain. The population of Dar es Salaam is estimated to be 8 million people. The latest statistics from ChurchofJesusChrist.org list almost 4,000 Church members in the country.
More than 1,200 members and friends gathered at the Mlimani City Social Hall on Sunday for the creation of the first stake, reported a news release from the Church’s Africa Newsroom.
President Juventus Mwesiga Rubona was called and sustained as the new stake president. His counselors are President Joel Wilson Onditi and President Alfred Regnatus Henerico.

The stake comprises five wards: the Ubungo, Mbezi Beach, Kinondoni, Oysterbay and Tabata wards; and five branches: the Bunju, Tegeta, Salasala, Segerea and Kimara branches.
During the meeting, President Rubona expressed his gratitude to the Saints in Dar es Salaam, his counselors and the mission leaders for their efforts. “We now have a place of refuge where we can seek peace and safety in our lives,” he said.
In his remarks, Elder Munene spoke about the transformative power of missionary work and encouraged members to invite others to experience the blessings of the restored gospel.
As the concluding speaker, Elder Pieper testified that “God’s plan of happiness is perfect to help us return to His presence. I testify that the children in this country will someday see the temple and participate in its ordinances.”

Elder Laurian P. Balilemwa, now serving as an Area Seventy, was the first district president of the Dar es Salaam Tanzania District when it was created in 2005.
“I am so happy and joyful to see this happening now,” he said of the creation of the new stake. “One lesson I have learned is that no one can go ahead of the Lord’s timing. Through our natural eyes and wisdom, we felt we were ready a long time ago.”
The Church in Tanzania
Two families from the United States and Canada living in Dar es Salaam began holding meetings in 1991. Tanzania was included in the Kenya Nairobi Mission, which was created in July 1991.
The first Tanzanian citizen to be baptized was Robert Muhile, who joined the Church in Cairo, Egypt, in 1991. The first missionary couple arrived in Tanzania in February 1992, and the Church was officially registered in the country on Oct. 8, 1992. A branch was created in Dar es Salaam in December 1992.
In November 2003, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles blessed the country. The Dar es Salaam Tanzania District was established on Dec. 5, 2005, with four branches.

An announcement was made in November 2019 of the new Tanzania Dar es Salaam Mission, which opened on July 1, 2020. More than 300 young members and friends of the Church participated in Tanzania’s first For the Strength of Youth conference in June 2023.
In his ministry in the Africa Central Area in February 2024, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles saw the Church’s humanitarian efforts in Tanzania and held meetings for Latter-day Saints and full-time missionaries in the Tanzania Dar es Salaam Mission.
