President William Ruto has commended the corporate sector for making this year’s WRC Safari Rally Kenya successful through its sponsorship.
This is as he encouraged other private partners to come in and partner with the government.
Ruto stated that the future of motorsport in the country depends heavily on the increased involvement of the private sector.
Acknowledging the immense support from the corporate bodies this year, Ruto pointed out that this has seen the government realise a significant drop in the cost incurred to host this major event.
He revealed that this year, the government spent a slight Sh980 million down from a whopping Sh2.1 billion in 2023.
“I remember that this rally cost the government Sh2.1 billion in 2023, I did give firm instructions to the ministry that, that figure should come down. I am happy that in 2024 it came down by Sh800 million to Sh1.3 billion and I insisted that this year it must cost less, I am happy again it came down by Sh300 million,” he stated.
The 2025 rally, he added, has been organised through a whole-of-government approach.
Speaking Thursday when he officially flagged off the race at KICC, Ruto was optimistic that with more participation from the sector, this amount would still come down.
“I am looking forward to the day when this will cost zero to the government of Kenya and the private sector will take it up,” he remarked.
This, he said, is “because they need the advertising, they need the profiling. I think the government is very willing to cede the ground and allow their private sector companies to shine in the glory of this great event.”
The Head of State further lauded the WRC organiser for raising over Sh400 million both directly and indirectly in support of the event.
At the same time, he expressed the government’s commitment to fully supporting an initiative by the WRC Safari Rally project and Toyota Gazoo Racing to train Kenyan drivers and mechanics.
Toyota Gazoo Racing is a motorsport division of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota.
