This CNN Hero upcycles old computers to open new worlds for young Kenyans
How the internet became a national symbol of hope in post-election Kenya
A man plays with the new Nairobi Internet that he installed at his house after he was surprised with the announcement that President Uhuru Kenyatta was the leader of Kenya, in Nairobi, Kenya Thomson Reuters By Patrick Lenihan
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta had his run of the presidency cut short, and many were wondering if he would step down after his third term. But after the election results were in, he decided to go ahead and continue in power.
With just over a week to go until the polls were announced, the nation waited with bated breath to see who would be the next prime minister. Among those who were disappointed by the outcome was a man from Nairobi, a two-time presidential hopeful who had been in the running all the way up to the final vote.
He was Njoki Mulenga. He was a former software engineer and had even started a software company in the early days of the internet in the 1990s. But ever since he realized he could make a living as a software engineer, even though he did not have an education or any special skills, in 2009 he decided to leave his life of comfort in Nairobi and move back to his home in the coastal city of Malindi, where one of his many business ventures was online.
As his company grew larger, it became increasingly difficult to find office space to accommodate his growing staff, and it was increasingly necessary to relocate. It was then, Mulenga was able to use the Internet as the solution he needed and he began to change his business plan from an online software company to an online hosting service.
The company, called Nairobi Internet, which he named after his hometown of Nairobi, was already quite big by when he found the Internet to be the solution. It was founded as