Kenya can reap more from rally

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, I repeat my exposition from around this time last year: If there is one thing that the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto did right, and which the government of President William Ruto and whoever inherited and kept running with it, it was supporting return of the Kenya Safari Rally to the World Rally Championship calendar.

The rally earns the country more publicity in the global media than money can buy, meaning that the investment the government pumps in as the main sponsor repays itself many times over.

I still maintain, however, that even as the Safari Rally remains the toughest and most exciting event in the WRC series, we still need a test of man and machine that can more accurately live up to the spirit and ethos of the old East African Safari Rally.

What we need is a 5,000 km-plus event taking in much more of the country, and crossing into Tanzania and Uganda, maybe even going around Lake Victoria and taking pride of place alongside World Rally-Raid Championship events.

But first, a little diversion.

Packed to the rafters

It was a great sporting weekend. Beyond rallying, there was another event offering a welcome diversion from stultifying politics. For the first time in more than a decade, the Nyayo National Stadium was packed to the rafters as Kenya hosted Gabon in a football World Cup qualifier.

We lost, but were not disgraced. Harambee Stars put in a great performance in the game under new coach Benni McCarthy, who has only had a few training sessions with the team. Our hopes of a World Cup debut probably ended with an unlucky 2-1 loss, but the Stars put on a display that will be greatly encouraging for those who have long given up hope on Kenyan football.

What the new regime at Football Kenya Federation must do is support establishment of junior football academies to tap grassroots talent from the formative stages, as is now the norm in the football powerhouses of West Africa. I am not talking about the academies we presently have in exclusive clubs, but those that tap talent from where it is to be found.

Back to the Safari Rally.

It’s a shame that Kenyan drivers are no longer in contention for podium places. Some of us grew up at a time when all the foreign teams depended on Kenyan drivers to bring them victory. Legends like Joginder Singh, Shekhar Mehta, and Vic Preston Senior and Junior, Mike Kirkland. Patrick Njiru and Ian Duncan went wheel-to-wheel, and often bested, championship contenders like Sandro Munari, Björn Waldegård, Hannu Mikkola, Carlos Sainz and Juha Kankkunnen.

That generation of pioneer Kenyan rally drivers did not reach the top by accident, they started learning the ropes while still in their teens.

Early on in his term as Machakos County Governor in 2013, Alfred Mutua, now Cabinet Secretary for Labour, was almost laughed out of town after promising to build a Formula 1 Grand Prix track. And there was that socialite joker, Steve Mbogo, who claimed to have negotiated with the Formula 1 organisers for a “Grand Pricks” to be staged in Kenya.

But let us remember that our early generation of top drivers honed their skills at local motor racing tracks, even if not Grand Prix specifications. The famous Embakasi race track off Mombasa Road and the Langalanga circuit in Nakuru both gave way to “development”. We need such circuits back.

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We have seen a news item where a Nigerian bank and local partners are seeking State House support in their pitch to provide a new inter-bank payments system. I don’t know who misled those merchants that President William Ruto is the procuring entity. However, they may have seen that many mega deals, such as the failing Social Health Authority digitisation project and the scrapped Jomo Kenyatta International Airport expansion, were brokered at State House and the relevant ministries simply ordered to implement.

Abduction ordeal

President Ruto even waded into a dispute between two brothers from the Rai family over ownership of Mumias Sugar Company and issued the infamous “mambo ni matatu” death threats, forcing one of them to withdraw his claims after suffering an abduction ordeal.

Central Bank of Kenya Governor Kamau Thugge, whom I can confirm attended a good school and is not given to thuggish tendencies, must send those fellows packing. Seeking intervention of State House or any other form of canvassing should lead to immediate disqualification.

gaithomail@gmail.com; @MachariaGaitho.