As the spectacular 2023 WRC Safari Rally roars into action this month, all eyes will be on the sleek Subaru N10 being steered by an all-female Kenyan crew of media queen Pauline Sheghu and her navigator Linet Ayuko.
Their multi-coloured machine will rummage through the rugged terrains and jungles of Nakuru county between June 22-26 while jostling with other monsters for the coveted spot atop the winners’ podium.
The rising hype and adrenaline accompanying such high-profile global competitions would naturally send any potential competitor quaking in the boots. Yet, Pauline is unfazed ahead of D-day.
She ventured into motorsports in 2006 when an opportunity came knocking right on the door of her office. The late motorsports guru Ben Muchemi “Baba Shiro” was the brainchild of the magnificent idea that threw her into the national limelight.
“I started rallying in 2006 while still working for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). The late rally ace Ben Muchemi ‘Baba Shiro’ and the late John Ngunjiri were the ones who inspired me to join the race. They started an event called the Inter-Media Rally competition that brought all the media houses together. One of the conditions was for all the teams to have at least one female participant in their lineup,” sheghu said.
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“While working in the newsroom, one of my colleagues Omole Asiko approached me while I was doing my normal duties as a news director and told me they intended to participate in a rally competition. They knew I was capable because they had seen me drive my normal car.
She accepted the challenge and told them she was willing to make the team. She wasn’t keen to attend the opening phase of the monthly competition but had no option but to participate in the subsequent slug-offs because the organisers insisted that each car had to be driven by a female participant.
“My first experience in the rally car was exhilarating. It felt so much different than what I experienced while driving a normal car. I felt the adrenaline and told myself it was something I would love to do over and over again. That was a turning point.
Unknown to her, something entirely different began fermenting and she found herself thrown into a deeper sea.
“After participating in two of the competitions, the Kenya Motorsports Federation said they would be attending the third phase to identify two drivers to participate in the Kenya National Rally championships. It was a do-or-die for us because there was no special treatment for women.
“It was no longer about representing my media house but rather about me as a person competing in the Kenya Rally Championships. I emerged first out of the 67 participants and KNRC bosses identified me to participate in the national event.
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Sheghu has vowed to stamp authority in the upcoming championships, where she intends to go a notch higher than finishing the race. “Throughout my rally, since 2006, I have been using Subaru and it’s a serious machine. I used it during the KNRC and finished the rally safely without hitches. My navigator then was Kimaru Kipchillat. But this time am going as an all-women crew. Women power. Team Sheghu…under the Talanta Hela umbrella. I’m looking forward to graduating to the next level God willing.”
A peculiar encounter with carjackers partly informed her decision to embrace motorsport.
“One time when I was leaving the broadcasting house after directing the news, I realised I was being followed by carjackers along Uhuru Highway. Since my car was moving at a very slow speed, they eventually caught up and bumped into me along Haille Sellasie Avenue. They then flashed out a gun but, fortunately enough, I was sharp.
“Coming from a family with some background in security issues, I learned some important tips from my brother and late father that I used to my advantage. They advised me to keep driving and never stop when faced with such a situation. I decided to get into motorsport in full swing.
“On reaching the KIMC junction, I swerved and lost control of my car. The vehicle landed in a ditch and the loud bang that accompanied the incident attracted the attention of the public hence the gangsters had no option but to speed off to avoid getting into trouble with the crowd of onlookers.
“This incident also prompted me to get into rallying because I was eager to learn how to quickly manoeuver into safety if I happened to find myself in a similar situation again. After that incident, I vowed that my next vehicle would be a speed car. Shortly thereafter, I proceeded to the showroom and got myself a brand new Peugeot 306.”
She wrote a new chapter in the history of the sport in 2011 after becoming the only female driver to complete the whole course in a Kenya National Rally Championship competition on her debut.
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“I made my debut in the main KNRC in 2011, where I competed with the likes of Flash Tundo, Azzad Anwar, the late Muchemi, Phineas Kimathi, George Njoroge, Ian Duncan, Baldev Chaga…all those legends. What I liked most about them is that they encouraged me.
“They were gurus in the field and I always looked up to them. The encouragement and support they gave me was superb. They told me to go and do my best without getting worried about the threat they posed owing to their experience.
“My navigator was Kimaru Kipchilat who currently works at State House. We were workmates at KBC then. I couldn’t get a lady navigator because men still dominated the scene. It was quite a challenging experience given I was unfamiliar with the terrain this being my first time participating in the event. However, we managed to finish the rally successfully and I made history as the first female driver to have done so.”
Sheghu says she owes her feat to the late fashionista and politician Orie Rogo Manduli, a motorsport pioneer who participated in the East African Safari Rally in 1974.
“I was determined to build my brand as Pauline Sheghu. The person who inspired me the most was the late Orie Rogo Manduli. When I was taking off the ramp at the KICC, she told me how she never got to finish her race in the Safari Rally after her car broke down. Manduli urged me to finish the race and make the Kenyan women proud.
“That is how I got my motivation to complete the task I began. Along the way, Manduli’s powerful words would replay in my mind and propel me further: “Pauline go and finish the race and make the Kenyan women proud!”
She insists that there is more to the sport than storming the podium to garnish one’s trophy cabinet with a coveted medal.
“It’s not about winning or wrapping up at the top. No, it’s about finishing safely. You must ensure that you record a respectable time. I drove carefully, keen on completing the race safely and having the car in good condition at the end of the day. Yes, we rolled once during the race but immediately got the car back on the track and sped off. There was no giving up. In rally, you only quit when you can’t get the car to roar on anymore.”
A master’s degree holder and the second born in a family of nine children, attributes her meteoric rise to her parents’ constant love and encouragement. She spent her formative years both in Nairobi and Kisumu because her late father, a government officer, switched jobs amid transfers.
“Aside from Manduli, my parents also inspired me a lot. Their unrelenting support encouraged me to push above and beyond and to prove to the world that women too can shine in motorsport.”
She plunged into motorsport full throttle to negate all misconceptions and stereotypes that condemned women to the dumpsite as far as rallying is concerned.
“For a long time, people perceived motorsport as a male-dominated field but all-women rally teams gradually began to creep into the scene including the likes of Warembo Bila Makeup. Women were not given the sort of limelight that their male counterparts enjoyed.
“I got into the sport with the idea of changing that perception and showing the world that even women can perform equally well or even better in motorsport.
“I want to change the narrative that this is not a male-only sport. We now have an organisation called Women In Motorsport that encourages more women to join the sport. It is headed by Hellen Shiri, a former member of Warembo Bila Makeup.
“It has attracted so many women — drivers, navigators, and safety marshals. Of those who have shown interest, few are drivers; many are navigators. Aside from me, we also have Natasha Tundo, Carol Gatimu, Sella Macharia, Joan Lesbit, Hellen Shiri, Maxime Wahome, and Lisa Christofferesen who is rapidly coming up.
Sheghu says she is impressed by the traction her persistent campaign has made thus far but strongly feels there is still a lot more to be done in dangling the carrot to the girl child.
“We also have some gifted young female drivers coming up such as Tinashe Gatimu who is just 16 years old. She drives with her mother Carol. We want women not to fear rallying because it’s the safest sport. The moment you get behind the steering wheel you’ll never get out of it. It’s addictive and that’s why I’ve been around since 2006. I don’t see myself retiring anytime soon because I would want to help reach more women. I’ll only be comfortable when I’ll see more women participating in motorsport.”
She admits people still find it difficult to merge her contrasting personalities in the corporate world and behind the roaring monsters she drives.
“When people see me reading the news and in the rally car, they find it extremely difficult to merge those two characters. Many people have called me to inquire if I’m the same person. My parents were shocked at first when I expressed interest in joining motorsport. They eventually warmed up to the idea after I took time to explain to them how important the sport was to me and how safe it would be.”
Sheghu reckons the local sports landscape is about to transform in a big way, adding that Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has what it takes to get things done.
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“I would like to sincerely appreciate the Almighty God, my family, My Cabinet Secretary Hon. Ababu Namwamba, the Government of Kenya, and KBC managing director, Samuel Maina for the support they have accorded me to participate in this year’s WRC Safari Rally together with my navigator Linet Ayuko. There will be two other teams of ladies Natasha Tundo and navigator Chantal Young and Jenifer Malik with her Navigator Wangui Muigai. On behalf of my fellow women in Motorsport, we say a big thanks for this support.
“I also appreciate the KMSF under the leadership of Phineas Kimathi CEO of WRC for the support they have given me since I started rallying.”
