When I sat down with rally driver Lisa Christoffersen on the Sports Garage, what started as a story of ambition and belief slowly unravelled into a sobering account of delays, unanswered questions and a system that kept moving the goalposts.
Lisa recounted the Rally Lionesses’ historic attempt to compete on the World Rally Championship stage, a milestone moment not just for the team, but for women’s motorsport in Kenya. Instead, it became a lesson in how close dreams can come to reality, only to be pulled away at the final moment.
According to Christoffersen, the journey began in 2024 when she met then Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Kipchumba Murkomen. She took the opportunity to explain who the Rally Lionesses were and what their WRC campaign represented.
“He asked me for a proposal,” Lisa recalled during the interview. “I brought it the very next day. We both had copies, and from there I just kept following up.”
Progress appeared to stall when the CS was later replaced, but hope returned when the proposal was eventually approved by the Permanent Secretary Engineer Peter Tum. Still, the waiting continued.
Lisa vividly remembers March 12 as a turning point.
“I remember that date very clearly,” she said. “This proposal had already been approved by CS Murkomen. So my question was simple: where is the money? It’s rally time. We were literally a week away from the rally.”
She was asked to return to the ministry the following day. What happened next only deepened the confusion.
Four women’s rally teams were invited in by the current Cabinet Secretary for Sports Salim Mvurya, and informed that Sh10 million would be allocated and shared among them. Each of the ladies’ teams would get Sh2.5 million which, while not enough, would have boosted their coffers at that point to facilitate them during the Safari Rally. To date, Lisa says, that money has never been paid.
But the financial uncertainty was only part of the ordeal.
Both Christoffersen and her navigator, Christabelle Wacuka, described a moment they say they still struggle to fully understand. Despite having already been issued with their car number and official registration details, the Rally Lionesses were denied entry at the event.
“We were just told to leave,” Lisa said. “No clear explanation. We didn’t even know who was giving the instruction.” Adding to the frustration was a phone call involving Motorsport Kenya chairman Charles Gacheru. According to the team, Gacheru assured them on speaker phone that their names would be added to the entry list within 20 minutes.
“We waited,” Lisa said quietly. “Twenty minutes passed. Nothing happened. Time just kept going.”
For a team attempting something unprecedented, racing on the World Rally Championship stage as Kenyan women, the experience felt like a merry-go-round of approvals, promises and silence.
Wacuka then stepped in to share what she described as the final straw.
“At one point, one of the marshals came and physically cut off our lanyards and forced us to leave,” she said. “That’s when it really hit us.”
As our conversation drew to a close, Lisa was clear about what she wanted next.
“I want a public press conference or a written explanation,” she said. “Something official that details exactly why we were ultimately denied entry at the 2025 WRC Rally.” A homecoming of sorts that turned out to be a nightmare for the ladies.
The Rally Lionesses’ story is not just about one event or one rally. It highlights a deeper issue around funding, accountability and how elite athletes, especially women, are treated when they push into historic territory. For now, their WRC dream remains paused, not by lack of preparation or talent, but by a system that never quite gave them a straight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD10Q8Ao3M4
