Joseph W. Sitati
Joseph Wafula Sitati is an emeritus General Authority Seventy and former member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He is the first black African General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the second general authority of black African descent (Helvécio Martins, who was from Brazil, being the first). At the time of his sustaining on April 4, 2009, he was serving as president of the Nigeria Calabar Mission.
Sitati was born on May 16, 1952, in Bungoma, Kenya. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nairobi and a diploma in accounting and finance from the Association of Certified Accountants where he also did course work for an MBA degree. During his career, he was an executive with Reach the Children organization and held several positions with Total Group, the fourth largest oil and gas company worldwide. He also served as director of Public Affairs for Africa in the Church of Jesus Christ.
After Sitati joined the Church in March 1986, he became the first District president and then Stake president in Kenya. In December 1991, he and his wife, Gladys, and their five children became the first Kenyan family to receive the sealing ordinance in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. He has also served as a branch president and Area Seventy.
He was designated emeritus General Authority on October 1, 2022, and gave his last general conference address the following day.
