Government confirms new Safari Rally appointment through gazette notice
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 07.06.26. | 20:44
The veteran driver had been expected to take over the role in the lead-up to this year's event in March
Veteran rally driver Carl 'Flash' Tundo has formally been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the WRC Safari Rally, following the issuance a special Kenya Gazette notice on Saturday, 6 June.
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Through the Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, Salim Mvurya, Tundo will now serve as the Safari Rally CEO, replacing the outgoing Charles Gacheru, whose appointment was revoked.
“It is notified for general information of the public that pursuant to Gazette Notice No 1769 of 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports appoints Carl Tundo to the Chief Executive Officer of the World rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally Project and Secretary to the Oversight Team for the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally Project, with effect from 5th June 2026. The appointment of Charles Gacheru is revoked,” the Kenya Gazette notice read.
Tundo’s official appointment comes after a mooted period of change in the leadership of the Safari Rally, which was labelled to be necessitated by the Government’s need to reduce funding for the project.
In the lead-up to this year’s WRC Safari Rally in March, Mozzart Sport learnt of the plan by the Sports Ministry to ouster Gacheru, who had been appointed by former Sports CS Ababu Namwamba in February 2024 on a three-year term.
The change of guard was, however, not effected during that period.
On 27, May, the old Safari Rally Secretariat was shown the door, paving the way for Tundo to officially take the running of the Local Organising Committee.
Late last month, Gacheru confirmed his impeding exit in a long piece detailing his two-year tenure in charge of the Safari Rally.
Therein, the Sports Administrator labeled running the sport from 2024 to 2026 as “like solving a constant jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces whilst blindfolded.”
“Pieces were stolen and hidden by my own team members, other pieces were not procured due to lack of funds, some were torn apart by past team members who thought running the rally was their God-given right, and occasionally, the whole puzzle would go missing for days on end stolen by warring motorsport federations," Gacheru offered.
Given the Government’s need to save on the event’s expenses and attract private investment, Tundo will have his hands full in his new job, even as he aims to secure the 2027 WRC Safari Rally’s place in the world championship calendar.
The 53-year-old Tundo was a five-time winner of the Safari Rally before its return to the World Rally Championship (WRC).
He made history in 2009 when he won the rally while it was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, making him the first and only Kenyan winner of an IRC round.