In her entire school life Pauline Sheghu had no idea of car racing whatsoever. She had no clue about motor rallying until 2006 while working as newscaster at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in Nairobi.

However, when the 2023 WRC Safari zooms off at Nakuru from tomorrow,the ever smiling Sheghu will be part of the breathtaking global event with her navigator Linet Ayuko,traversing the dusty,bushy terrain of Naivasha in a Subaru N10.

The media personality says her participation in the WRC will be in search of glory in honour of her late father Agostino Makalla Sheghu.

“I am ready to go and show the world that anyone can achieve his or her dream with consistency, hard work and discipline. I am optimistic of going there and finishing the race and beyond,this will be for my late dad who showered me with a lot of love and inspiration,” Sheghu told People Daily Sport.

Sheghu, a renowned broadcaster begun he journey to rally greatness when she took a bold step to accept an invite from her then newsroom boss Amollo Asiko in 2006. At that time,there was an inter-media rally challenge that was fronted by the late Ben Muchemi ‘Baba Shiru’.

In the challenge, there was a mandatory requirement for every team to have a female driver. That forced Asiko to sweet-talk Sheghu to join and since then the rest is history.

The mother of one wrote history in 2011, becoming the first female driver to complete the whole course in the Kenya National Rally Championships.
She is thankful and motivated ahead of the spectacular WRC that roars into action this Thursday after the government of Kenya boosted the all female drivers with State sponsorships.

“I am really grateful for the government support. Since I started this sport, we have never received any funding from the government and for sure being the first to get such a good gesture from the President is something that is motivational. I would like to thank the President for giving the female drivers the opportunity and believing that we are capable. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Sports led by Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba for the good leadership that has really helped us to get State support,”she said.

The communications guru now notes that the major obstacle in motor rallying is the expensiveness of the sport itself. She said one may need about Shs. 25m to get a good car for racing which hinders other female drivers to join the frame.