Pauline Shegu was a renown name in the main stream media in the 2000s. She was a news presenter serving at the National Broadcaster KBC. While still on TV, she began her journey motor rally journey in 2004, and it is now over 15 years in the profession.

She has become one of the most sought after female motor rally drivers and will be the only woman participating in the male dominated 2025 Safari Rally in Naivasha together with her partner Linet Ayuko.

According to her, the opportunity to join motor rally sports came when the late rally driver Ben Muchemi began the inter-media rally competition which brought media houses together.

“A chance came when the late rally driver Ben Muchemi was sponsoring everything but the requirement was to have a female in a team. One of the participants known as Omole Asiko begged me to be in their team, because he had seen me driving the normal cars and was convinced that I can participate in the competition. After the participating in the competition, I joined the national rally level and made this my sport,” she said in an interview with Citizen TV.

Shegu added  that her first ever national rally competition was in 2011, where she participated in a 930km race which covered Nairobi and Kajiado.

“That was my first ever national race, when the men saw me, they held my hand and motivated me,” she said.

Her career has however not be all rosy as she has encountered tough times, including when her car turning off exactly when the race had started and when she suffered an accident while racing.

“One thing that I can’t forget is the moment my car turned off, and  time was running. My competitor was already gone and was about to come back and I was still there. The second thing is when I encountered an accident. Something which I was taught that I will never forget is I was told when the car is flying during the accident is to never let go of the steering wheel. Die with it, so I died with it to the end and I was left upside down,” she said.

Luckily, they were okay after the accident and were aided out of the vehicle.

To become a rally driver, one undergoes intense training. Shegu says there are few female motor rally drivers because of lack of funding. According to her, some women have even exited the career because of lack of resources.