How Kenyan women are making their mark in world of rallying
Tuta Mionki is one of a handful of female rally navigators in Kenya.
What you need to know:
- Kenya Women In Motorsport mission is to enlist as many members as possible either as drivers, administrators, marketers and technical officials to supplement their male counterpart’s contribution towards the sport.
- WIM representation is today visible in all motorsport disciplines ranging from rallying, autoX, karting, rally raid, and tarmac racing. Shiri is deputised by Tuta Mionki, who placed fifth in the 2018 Africa Rally Championship Safari Rally.
Kenyan women have risen up through out the rallying history to claim their rightful place in the sport.
The pioneer lady in rallying is no doubt Pauru Choda who became a darling of ordinary folks across the country for what they termed, “ her courage” to navigate her husband Prem Choda in the revered Safari Rally for many years.
Choda passed away last week in Nairobi.
Pauru Choda and her veteran Safari Rally driver-husband Prem Choda (second right) are joined by some of their friends in the motoring world including Vic Preston Senior, Tara Singh Dogra and the Chodas’ 18-year-old-daughter Rashmi Choda at a ceremony at the Nairobi Hilton in 1990.
Pauru, Anne Teith, Sylvia King and Orie Rogo Manduli are considered the women trail blazers in rallying in the 1970s when the Safari was strictly a preserve of macho men who dared to drive through the hinterland of East Africa for five days and nights.
These women together with athletes Mary Ibrahim, Lydia Stephens, and Jeni Kenyatta -- the first Kenyan women to qualify for the Olympic Games in 1968 -- made many women believe in themselves in sports.
This was replicated in business and politics. Remember 24-year-old University of Nairobi student Chelagat Mutai as a Member of Parliament for Eldoret North?
The sister-and-brother team of Benjamin Kariuki and Margaret Wangui before start of a previous rally.
Exit Pauru, and in came more women drivers in the 1990s led by the all- ladies crew of Michelle van Tongren and Safina Hussein who started featuring in the top 10 positions in the sunset years of the Safarai Rally as part of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
Other women who competed in that period were Wangui Kariuki, Gillian Bailey, and Carol Wahome.
Now there are many women drivers, administrators, mechanics and technical officials in rallying.
One notable example is Hellen Shiri, an accredited technical official of the International Motorsport Federation (FIA).
Today, women appear more focused, and their activities are governed by the Kenya Women In Motorsport (WIM), an organisation recognised by the FIA, which formed Women In Motorsport Commission headed by Michèle Mouton, who excited the Safari Rally some years back with her audacious driving.
Hellen Kagendo Shiri and her rallying machine.
Kenya Women In Motorsport received a major image boost in 2018 when Shiri, of the “Warembo Bila Make up” fame, won the FIA Event Secretary of the Year Award, the first and only trophy by a Kenyan woman in rallying.
Kenya Women In Motorsport mission is to enlist as many members as possible either as drivers, administrators, marketers and technical officials to supplement their male counterpart’s contribution towards the sport.
WIM representation is today visible in all motorsport disciplines ranging from rallying, autoX, karting, rally raid, and tarmac racing. Shiri is deputised by Tuta Mionki, who placed fifth in the 2018 Africa Rally Championship Safari Rally.
Tuta Mionki is a rally navigator with a passion for racing.
Others WIM officials are secretary Wambui Kiiru, Linet Ayuko (assistant secretary), Caroline Gatimu (treasurer), and Joan Nesbitt (assistant treasurer).
Committee members are Wangui Mungai, Stella Macharia, Tamara Jones, and Wanjiku Ndegwa.
WIM is also involved in the car clinics, training rally, motorsport awareness, road safety, charity events and PR activities.
Shiri anticipates growth in the industry with the re-inclusion of the Safari in the WRC.
She is the Safari Rally Event Secretary and has enhanced her education in rallying through FIA training courses in Switzerland and South Africa.
Shiri, together with Macharia, are the first indigenous women rally drivers to compete outside the country, in ARC Uganda round.
Mionki, the 2018 Motorsports Personality of the Year, continues to attract rave media reviews in the world for her success in the sport both as a driver and official.
Of the current crop of women Safina Hussein, who is a multiple Safari Rally Coupe des Dames champion, and 2018 Autocross 2W non-turbo winner, is the longest active competitor, her career dating back to the 1990s.
