The government has unveiled a large-scale plan to enrich the status of the upcoming WRC Safari Rally.
Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Ababu Namwamba, announced that a secretariat will be formed in the coming days to propel the country towards the much-anticipated event.
The 2023 WRC Safari Rally is officially scheduled for June 22-25 and the CS has asked motorsport enthusiasts in the country to brace themselves for a thrilling sporting extravaganza. The event triumphantly returned last year after a 20-year absence.
“I invite you to come and experience the most amazing, challenging, memorable, and adrenaline-pumping rally on the WRC circuit,” Namwamba said.
“From June 22-25, we will organise the Safari Rally which is the seventh in the WRC circuit and so we are putting measures in place to ensure its success,” Ababu said.
Namwamba’s comments come hours after he embarked on a rigorous process of reconstituting the Safari Rally administrative structure over the weekend.
In a Kenya Gazette notice, the CS ushered in new faces on the Steering and Organising Committees.
“Following the International Motorsport Federation’s (FIA) designation of the Safari Rally as a premier continental rally to be held in Kenya... the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Arts, and Sports, has established and appointed members to committees.
“The appointed individuals will comprise the WRC Safari Rally Project’s Steering Committee (SC) and Organizing Committee (OC).”
The Steering Committee, according to Namwamba, will provide policy guidance and an organizational framework that meets international standards for hosting the WRC.
“The chairperson of each committee will preside over committee meetings, and in their absence, the vice-chairperson will preside,” Namwamba said.
“In the absence of both, the members present shall elect a member of the committee to chair the meeting,” he added.
The new appointees will serve a one-year term beginning January 4, this year, according to Namwamba.
Namwamba will chair the Steering Committee and will be deputised his Principal Secretary for Sports, Jonathan Mueke, .
The secretary of the Steering Committee will be Phineas Kimathi, chairman of the Kenya Motor Sports Federation (KMSF).
Other members include Ismail Maalim Madey, Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and the Arts, Surinder Thatthi, Director of KMSF, and Paul Russo, chief executive officer of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).
The Steering Committee will include representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Heritage, as well as the Council of Governors.
The Organising Committee will be chaired by rally driver Carl “Flash” Tundo, who will be deputised by Brian Mutembei.
Hellen Shiri, CEO of the Sports Fund Arts and Social Development Fund, will serve as the event’s secretary, while Jagjett Patter will serve as the event’s director.
Kimathi will sit on the Organising Committee which will include representatives from the National Youth Service, Council of Governors, Ministry of Roads and Transport, and Ministry of Interior.
Youth representative Hudson Ojiambo, Antony Wanjohi Kanyi, Kiki Christopher, Robert Onyonka, Nyatichi Nyasani, Muema Muindi, Gurdeep Singh Panesar and Dennis Mondet are also members of the Organising Committee.
When Namwamba took office last year, he expressed a desire to ramp up the mileage of the event across the country so that more Kenyans could share in the experience.
Kenya has already applied for an exemption from the International Automobile Federation to increase the distance from 198 to 226 miles. The current FIA standard for each WRC round is 350km (217 miles). Kenya will host the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally every year until 2026.
