Nairobi News

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UK PM Johnson’s gift to Uhuru


UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson gifted President Uhuru Kenyatta a model car from the 1962 East African Safari Rally as part of their bilateral.

President Kenyatta spent the better part of the last week in the UK on an official visit and returned at the weekend.

While there, the PM gifted him a Trofeu 1509 Saab 96 #5 East African Safari Rally 1962 – Pat Moss 1/43 scale, which retails for Sh13,500 on ebay.

“The Prime Minister knows rallying is close to the President’s heart and wanted to acknowledge the success of bringing the Safari Rally back to Kenya this year. This model car from the 1962 East African Safari Rally was a demonstration of the warmth of the two leaders’ relationship,” a statement from the Spokesperson of the British High Commission in Kenya read.

This the PM said was after the success of the recently concluded Safari Rally.

“As part of President Kenyatta’s visit to the UK, he had a warm and long meeting with Prime Minister Johnson at his country residence, Chequers, where they discussed the strength of the Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership,” the statement added.

In June, the Safari rally returned after a 19-year hiatus and is often regarded as the toughest race in the World Rally Championship because riders have to cover long distances in testing conditions.

Speaking while flagging off the event at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi, Mr Kenyatta said the Safari Rally is a significant event in Kenya’s history and the people of Kenya have bonded with the event.

“In 2013 I made a pledge to my fellow citizens that we would bring the safari rally back home and I also promised that I would return Safari Rally to its position as one of the International Automobile Federation and the World Rally Championships’ toughest rally,” he said.

While presided over the award ceremony of the event which ended with Frenchman Sebastien Ogier winning the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally, the president announced that an agreement has been reached between the Kenyan government, International Motorsport Federation (FIA) and World Rally Championship (WRC) to hold the Safari Rally until 2026.