NAIROBI, Kenya, June 4 – President William Ruto has hailed organisers of the Rhino Charge for leveraging on the power of sports for environmental conservation efforts.
President Ruto expressed his gratitude to the organisers for their continued passion for matters environment through the years.
“I am very grateful to be here with you this morning. Congratulations to the organisers. Your partnership in fencing off some of the assets around the water towers is something we are eternally grateful. What you have done in Mount Kenya…what you are doing in the Aberdares…what you are about to start in Kakamega and shortly, we will be working with you in fencing the Mau so that we can preserve this asset for the current generation and the one to come,” the President said.
He further promised that the government will work the Rhino Ark, organisers of the Rhino Charge, to ensure that their conservation efforts are sustained.
“I want to agree with you that what you have done, the government is going to match it shilling for shilling because of the tremendous contribution you are making to matters environment and matters that would usually be the responsibility of the government of Kenya. I want to thank the Rhino Ark Conservation Trust and assure you of my partnership and that of the government,” President Ruto said.
The President was speaking during the prize giving ceremony at Nkoteyia Community Conservancy in Samburu County during which Mark Glen in Car No 48 was declared winner.
In second and third position were immediate former defending champion Sean Avery (Car No. 38) and Graham McKittrick (Car No. 5) respectively.
The newly-crowned champion, who has now six titles to his name, was over the moon and promised to go for a seventh, next year.
“It was absolutely amazing…this is our sixth title and have equalled the guy who had won it the most. So, next year, we are going to come back and try to win a seventh title. It was an absolutely amazing course…the hills were rather radical out there,” Glen said.
He added: “It was one of the hardest because you couldn’t go straight…you had to go in and out.”
Glen further expressed his delight at participating in a noble cause to protect mother earth.
“We are 100 per cent committed to the cause…we love fishing in the Aberdares. Our children…they love fishing there. It is great that we are doing the Mau…it needs saving. We just need the government behind us and we need to save the water towers,” he said.
A total of Ksh 173 millions was raised with Adil Khawaja of Car 44 (AK44) leading the way with with Ksh 60 million as Peter Kinyua’s Car No. 23 and Tim Carstens’ Car No 63 were second and third-highest fundraiser respectively.
Moreover, Ksh 7 million was donated to benefit the Nkoteyia community courtesy of Ksh 5 million from Rhino Ark Trust and Ksh 2 million from President Ruto.
M-PESA Foundation also committed to supporting the restoration of Kakamega Forest through the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust and its partners, who aim to raise funds to preserve our ecosystems, bio-diversity and livelihoods through environmental conservation.
