Phineas Kimathi, the President of the Kenya Motorsports Federation (KMSF) is no longer the chairperson of the WRC Safari Rally organizing committee.
The announcement was made by the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba during a meeting held in Nairobi on Monday, February 20.
Ex-Kenyan rally driver Carl Tundo takes over from Kimathi as the committee's chairperson.
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According to Ababu, the decision was made to ease Kimathi’s responsibilities ahead of this year’s edition scheduled for June.
“Phineas is the CEO of the rally and the structure of the committee is such that the CEO is also the secretary.
“He was previously the CEO, secretary, and chair of the committee, which we believe was an overload for him.
“We agreed that he’ll remain CEO and secretary and we get someone else to be chair of the committee. That is the role that Flash Carl Tundo (sic) will play,” Namwamba explained.
Tundo is tasked with organizing and assigning tasks to ensure the success of the upcoming event.
He will make sure members of the organizing committee accomplish the roles assigned to them.
This year’s edition faced the risk of cancellation due to the lack of funds to finance the Equator Rally scheduled to take place in Voi next month.
However, the government stepped in at the last minute and ensure the Rally kicks off on Friday, March 17 as previously scheduled
Equator Rally usually serves as a precursor for the WRC Safari Rally which is expected to be held between Thursday, June 22, and Sunday, June 25.