Mbarara rally rocked by controversy as sections cancelled

The confusion witnessed during the Mbarara Rally on Saturday is not about to end.

The traditional FMU calendar opener has been rocked with controversies almost every time the event has been staged in Western Uganda.

This year’s edition itself was on the verge of being cancelled after the local motorsport governing body FMU stripped Mbarara Motor Club (MMC) of the rights to organise the event on grounds that MMC did not comply with the federation rules in the 2022 event.

However, FMU took over the organisation of the event and kept it in Mbarara before handing it over to MPU-Motorsport, with newly formed Mbarara City Rally Club (MCRC) and Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari, La rooftop, Bam Petrol Station and Ex-Effect coming in as sponsors of the event.

The event was officially launched last week at Mwesigwa Resort in the presence of FMU executive members led by the vice president in charge of touring, vintage, and road safety, Reynolds Kibira.

The rally sections had been named and approved by FMU and the Ministry of Works and the drivers arrived in Mbarara on Friday, ready to start the competition.

But at the last hour on Friday, one of the sections, the Mwesigwa Resort section, 44.2km and the longest was cancelled.

According to a release by Clerk of Course (COC) Aaron Nsamba, the section was cancelled for safety reasons, and many fans kept asking how it was passed in the first place.

Reliable sources indicate that the section was cancelled following a disagreement between sponsor Mwesigwa Rukaari and other sponsors.

This is not the first time such controversies are happening at the Mbarara Rally, last year’s cancellation of the event at the last hour and then re-instating it in the wee hours, and in 2017, the Police directed that the organisers don’t use Kakyeka for the special sprint stage but the same event was held at Kakyeka the following morning.

Before the Mbarara event, there was pulling of ropes between Mwesigwa and other sponsors as they battled with the naming of the event, which according to the launch done last week, was named Rukaari Mbarara Rally as the others wanted it named Mbarara City Rally.

The event that started on Saturday morning with the Ex-Effect and the Biharwe-Kakoba section later had the drivers do the special sprint stage at Booma grounds.

Top drivers Jas Mangat and Godfrey Aine Sodo, among others, who had been recorded as registered for the rally, did not turn up while Samuel Watendwa, Yasin Mukasa, and Jonas Kansime retired after the second section due to mechanical problems.

Mbarara Rally Day one start list

Mustafa Kassaga/Doreen Nabila

Moses Okello/Jamaal Musoke

Japheth Lugayizi/Ali Nsubuga

Umar Kakyama/Robert Katabalwa

Yassin Mukasa/Duncan Katumba

Samuel Watendwa/Isaac Lumu

Edward Kirumira/Gloria Nantongo

Mansoor Lubega/Arthur Lugolobi

Ibrahim Lubega/Mustapha Kanakulya

Happy Katehangwa/Denis Tibenda

Didas Matsiko/Francis Wamala

Rashid Makumbi/Yusufu Babu Jr

Godfrey Kiyimba/Urban Mulindwa

Joshua Muwanguzi/Ritah Nakigozi

Mustapha Mukasa/Pius Lugya

Isaac Ssozi/Jackson Serwanga

Mohammed Bwete/Shakilah Nabwami

Peter Kalule/John Bosco Musisi

Umar Dauda/Steven Bunya

Fred Busulwa/Midred Kibuuka

Nasser Mutebi/Bashiels Mbogo

Innocent Bwamiki/Hamza Lwanga

Jonas Kansiime/Ronald Bukenya

Ismail Otega/ Joseph Lutalo Jr

Ronald Sebuguzi /Anthony Mugambwa

Byron Rugomoka- Hakim Muwanda

Hassan Alwi Jr / Musa Nsubuga

Yasin Nasser /Ali Katumba

Duncan Mubiru /Joseph Bongole