Upcoming golf, motor sports events will help inject global confidence in Kenya

As we launch into March, the next two months will be of huge significance to the reawakening of Kenyan sport.

And, by extension, the months of March and April will also be of extreme importance to the gradual revival of a Kenyan tourism industry badly ravaged by effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

From March 18 to 21, Nairobi will host the Magical Kenya Open Golf Championships, a round of the European Tour, at the Karen Country Club with the annual tournament followed by the newly-launched Kenya Savannah Classic at the same venue from March 23 to 26.

The Kenya Savannah Classic is also a round of the European Tour, making Kenya the enviable host of two high profile Tour tournaments.

According to the European Tour’s chief executive Keith Pelley, the $1.3 million Kenya Savannah Classic was roped into the European Tour in pursuant of the Tour’s strategy of “playing in geographical clusters to reduce travelling as much as possible” owing to challenges brought about by Covid-19.

On the weekend of April 24 and 25, Kenya will also host the Equator Rally, a round of the African Rally Championships and a dress rehearsal for the June 24 to 27 WRC Safari Rally.

The Equator Rally will principally run on routes designed for the WRC Safari Rally with race officials for both competitions currently undergoing skills training and exposure ahead of the rallies.

The training started last weekend for stage commanders, their deputies along with stage safety officers and safety car crew members.

This weekend, Dom Saunders, an expert from UK Motorsport, will train radio marshals, radio controllers, timing marshals and stage commanders with Raj Jutley, head of the WRC Safari Rally medical team, holding sessions on rescue and recovery.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has already expressed its confidence in Kenya as hosts of a WRC round with FIA President Jean Todt’s visit to Nairobi last November offering the final seal of approval.

From today, Joao Passos and Iain Campbell, officials from the World Rally Championship’s marketing arm – WRC Promoter – will be in Naivasha and Nairobi to follow up progress on the Safari’s preparations and have another look at some of the rally stages.

Meanwhile, already, leading professional golfers, including six former winners and an array of exciting prospects, have indicated their intentions to travel to Nairobi for the European Tour’s double-header at Karen.

Besides the competitors, these international golf and motorsports competitions will have thousands of fans, officials, media and support personnel in tow, which will most certainly be a huge boost to our tourism and hospitality industry.

The successful staging of the Kip Keino Classic leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour last October, deep in the lockdown days, injected confidence in international sports federations that are now happy with Kenya’s Covid-19 prevention protocols.

That Kenya will host back-to-back European Tour competitions this month means that for about two weeks, international golfers, fans and officials will remain in Kenya, further boosting much needed foreign exchange income.

Further, over this period, the media coverage Kenya will enjoy will go a long way in injecting confidence in other countries to send their athletes for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships to be hosted at Kasarani in August, right after the Tokyo Olympics, and the second Kip Keino Classic in September.

It, therefore, goes without saying that impeccable organisation of these competitions is absolutely critical.

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It was reassuring to, finally, see the National Olympic Committee of Kenya yesterday launch Team Kenya’s bubble camp training for the Tokyo Olympics at Kasarani.

Having been privileged to sit in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Probe Committee, one of our main areas of concern in the pre-Olympics preparations phase was the late and incoherent launch of training camps.

This time round, the Tokyo Games pose an unexpected challenge with the coronavirus pandemic throwing the spanner in the works and leaving many athletes ill-prepared for the new season, having lost an entire 2020 period of competition due to the global lockdown.

That Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed also recently gazzeted the Steering Committee and Central Management Committee for the Tokyo Games, and populated these committees with experienced professionals, moves to assure that the approach to the Olympics has this time round been given serious thought.

With seasoned sports administrators Waithaka Kioni and Barnabas Korir at the helm of Team Kenya as Chef de Mission and General Team Manager, respectively, I’m confident that Tokyo - the Covid-19 frustrations notwithstanding - will be a great outing for Kenya’s Olympics and Paralympics teams.

Meanwhile, with clouds gathering fast ahead of the 2022 General Election storm, we hope the political horse trading will not visit the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage yet again.

Because the current partnership of CS Amina and Principal Secretary Joe Okudo has gained traction and with the results evident.

Changes in the ministry’s leadership will only negate the gains already made at Kencom House where the administration of Amina and Okudo has done extremely well in streamlining operations.

We hope the arrival of youthful Zack Kinuthia as the ministry’s new Chief Administrative Secretary in place of Hassan Noor Hassan (traded to the Education docket), who also had a great, respectful stint at the ministry, will further boost these gains, and will be an impact substitution. I wish them both well in their new assignments.

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