•Organizers of the Kenyan event lobbied to increase the distance from 198 to 226 miles and Namwamba believes the negotiations can go a step further to make the event more inclusive.
•Namwamba praised the continued efforts of Safari Rally Kenya chief executive officer Phineas Kimathi to breathe life into the once-neglected Kenyan gem.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba wants the WRC Safari Rally to ramp up its mileage across the country so that more Kenyans can share the exhilarating experience.
Last year, the Safari Rally organisers applied for a waiver from the International Automobile Federation to increase its competitive distance. The move was bound to make it the World Rally Championship’s longest event since 2018.
Organisers of the Kenyan event lobbied to increase the distance from 198 to 226 miles and Namwamba believes the negotiations can go a step further to make the event more inclusive.
The FIA’s current limit for each WRC round is 350km (217 miles). Namwamba praised the continued efforts of Safari Rally Kenya chief executive officer Phineas Kimathi to breathe life into the once-neglected Kenyan gem.
“Phineas Kimathi deserves national honours. If it hasn't been done yet it has to be done. Thank you very much for supporting the former Cabinet Secretary to make that incredible journey.
“I've told Phineas that we must maintain that momentum and we must move the Safari Rally back to the people.
"From Naivasha to Kwale to Migori to every other corner of the country. Namwamba recounted the excitement he had in his formative years when he joined other spectators to watch the colourful machines that roared through the rocky and rutted tracks of the jungle."
“When I was a little boy, I would walk for miles sometimes not even to see the car. The plume of dust alone would convince me that I was part of the excitement of the Safari Rally.
Namwamba said Kenya will continue to use the great power of the Safari Rally to attract the world to the beauty of the country.
“It is a powerful branding platform for us as a country,” he pointed out. The minister praised his predecessor Amina Mohamed for reigning in the popularity of the game around the world by returning it to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar.
“I want to applaud my predecessor for returning the Safari Rally to the WRC circuit. Incredible numbers watched the event.” Safari Rally Executive Director, Phineas Kimathi said the country is still basking in the glory of last year's event.
“The highlight of the ministry for the past five years is the return of the Safari Rally to WRC,” Kimathi said.
“We are proud as the only African country to have had this opportunity in the last 20 years.”
The Safari Rally was included in the 2020 World Rally Championship, marking the return of the World Rally Championship to Kenya and Africa, after a 19-year absence.
Kimathi, who is also the chairman of the Kenya Motor Sports Federation, initiated steps to bring the Safari back to the WRC in 2015 when he introduced retired President Uhuru Kenyatta to International Automobile Federation president Jean Todt at State House, Nairobi.
Todt was on an official tour in Kenya as Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Road Safety. Kimathi attended the FIA Sports Conference the following year in Turin, Italy, where he and Todt met the WRC promoter, Oliver Ciesla.
In 2018, Ciesla signed an agreement with Kenyan Government to host the 2019 Safari as a WRC Candidate Event, before the event made a grand comeback on September 27.
Kenya will host the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally every year until 2026.