@benagitau
The renowned Rhino Charge, an iconic 4×4 off-road competition, will be held this year during the Madaraka Day weekend in Kajiado County. Don White, the event’s Clerk of Course, announced that the 35th edition has attracted a total of 56 competitor cars.
Among the 56 competitors are last year’s champions, Team 48 led by Mark Glen, who will be vying for back-to-back victories. Team 48 of Maxxis claimed victory in the previous competition, dethroning the 2022 winners, the Bundu Fundi. They recorded a distance of 26.7 kilometers, visiting all 13 points in the event held at Nkoteyia Community Conservancy in the Ewaso Nyiro landscape in Samburu County.
The Bundu Fundi registered a distance of 29.86 kilometers, also visiting all points, while Team 5, under Graham Mckittrick, came third with a distance of 32.32 kilometers, completing the course.
Ian Duncan, one of Kenya’s most successful rally drivers and a six-time Kenyan Rally Champion, will also be participating. Duncan has previously won the Rhino Charge in 1998, 2006, and 2007.
Other notable Kenyan participants include Stanley Kinyanjui of Magnates Ventures and Rhino Ark Chairman Peter Kinyua, an active competitor in the Rhino Charge for the past 15 years. His team, Car 23, holds the record for the highest fundraising team in the history of the event, raising over KES 39 million in 2022.
The annual off-road 4×4 competition held 33 times previously, requires entrants to visit 13 points (guard posts) while traveling the shortest possible distance across difficult, trackless terrain, where speed is not a necessity. Beyond the sport, the event supports a national conservation purpose.
Last year, the Rhino Charge raised a total of Sh 173 million, with this year’s event aiming to surpass that amount. Rhino Ark’s Executive Director, Christian Lambrechts, highlighted the activities and programs undertaken by Rhino Ark over the past year in key areas including Mt. Kenya, Mau Eburu, Aberdares, South Western Mau, and Kakamega Forest.
“Sh 173 million which was raised went towards the completion of the 61-km-long section of the Mt. Kenya Electric Fence in Nyeri County, the construction of the Kakamega Forest electric fence, the maintenance of the 758 kilometers of electric fence built to date in Aberdare, Mt. Kenya, Eburu and Kakamega, the expansion of community patrol teams to include South Western Mau, among many other activities,” said Christian.
The competition supports the safeguarding of Kenya’s mountain forests, known as water towers, which are the sources of all major rivers in the country. Since its inception in 1989, the Rhino Charge has raised nearly KES 2.1 billion for the conservation of Mount Kenya, the Aberdares, South Western Mau, and Mount Eburu in the Mau Forests Complex, as well as Kakamega Forest. The first Rhino Charge raised Sh 250,000, a figure that has grown tremendously over the years, surpassing Sh 180 million in 2018 thanks to local and international supporters.
Projects funded by Rhino Charge include the construction of the world’s longest game-proof fences, such as the 450 km Mount Kenya Electric Fence, of which 300 km have been built to date. Funds have also been used for the maintenance of the completed 400-km Aberdare Electric Fence, the 43.3 km perimeter electric fence around Mount Eburu, and the ongoing construction of the Kakamega Forest fence.
This year’s Rhino Charge main events will start on Friday, 31st May, with Scrutineering (inspection of the competing cars), followed by the competition on Saturday, 1st June, and the prize-giving ceremony on Sunday, 2nd June.
President William Ruto presented awards to team AK44, led by Adil Khawaja, who emerged as the highest contributors to the Rhino Charge, raising Sh 60 million. A total of Sh 173 million was raised, which will significantly contribute to conserving Kenya’s five water towers.
