Sports CS Amina Mohamed commissioned the World Rally Championship Safari Rally Kenya Service Park in readiness for an upcoming event.
The groundbreaking ceremony was graced by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) President Jean Todt at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Institute in Naivasha.
The FIA is a global association established to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users around the world.
The organisation is mostly known as the governing body for many auto racing events, such as the well known Formula One.
The park will be built to world-class standards to host the Kenyan leg of the World Rally Championship scheduled for June 24 to June 27, 2021.
The World Rally Championship participants will be treated to spectacular views at different stages such as Kedong, Elementaita and Hell’s Gate as well as glimpses of African lions and other wildlife.
Other than hosting the WRC, the park will also be customized to host other motorsport events.
The service park will also be home to an Acacia Xanthophloea Safari Forest which will constitute part of the Safari Rally Greening Legacy.
The WRC targets to complete an 18-million-tree-planting exercise aimed at re-greening traditional safari rally routes in various countries.
In October 2020, the CS Amina was inducted as a new member of the World Motor Sport Council.
Kenya has had interests in the organisation, whereby President Uhuru Kenyatta managed to secure Kenya's inclusion in the World Safari Rally circuit.
"Before my administration assumed office in 2013, I made a promise to the people of Kenya, to return the Safari Rally back to the International Automobile Federation World Rally Championship family. This process has taken us seven years.
"It is my pleasure today to announce to the people of Kenya and Africa that this process has been concluded and the Safari Rally has been included in the International Automobile Federation World Rally Championship, marking the return of the World Rally Championship to Kenya and Africa, after 18 years of waiting," President Kenyatta expressed in 2019.
