At the awards ceremony organized by the Federation of Motorsport in Uganda yesterday, on January 3, at the Silver Spring Hotel Bugoloobi, attended by 500, awards were given to the best riders.
Yasin Nasser, along with his navigator Ali Katumba, expressed their dismay after government agencies and the government itself remained ignorant that they had won the African Rally Championship for Uganda.
While receiving the award for the best racing driver in Uganda, he expressed his pain by saying, “Participating in this sport, we put a lot of effort into the luxury industry. The truth is, we are not looking for money because it can be difficult to raise from this field, but we just aim to market our beloved country, Uganda.”
“It is sad that we won the African Rally Championship, raised the Ugandan flag high, and got the national anthem played for a good cause, but since we came back as winners, neither the government, nor the National Council of Sports, nor the Parliament of Uganda has ever come out and recognized us. I am sure if it were football or athletics, the celebrations would still be going on.”
Through his team, Team Moil, on October 27, 2025, Yasin Nassar and Ali Katumba won back the ARC after 26 years since the title was last won by a Ugandan, and by the time the last winner, Charles Muhangi, had already gone seven years after he died in 2018.
However, since the victory, while the Ugandan government remained silent, the leading racing federations have been praising the riders, and the Federation of International Associations praised them for their work to honor the 2025 champions in Tashkent Uzbekistan, on December 12.
Amidst the overlook, it is with the saddest note that Federation of Motorsport in Uganda’s president, James Michael Akena, simply known as Jimmy Akena, is a member of Parliament representing Lira East Division in the 11th Parliament of Uganda.
