The 2018 edition of “Lungs for Kenya” charity golf tournament brought together 124 golfers to raise money for a good cause: restoration of Mt. Kenya forest, Kenya’s largest water tower. The event, which took place on 23 March 2018 at the Karen Country Club, raised 2.5 million shillings to plant trees in Mt. Kenya.
Unlike previous editions, this year’s tournament was a full day event. The tournament comprised of two tee-off times: in the morning and at noon.
Vivo Energy Kenya was the tournament’s main sponsors for the sixth year running. Speaking during the presentation of trophies Vivo Energy Kenya managing director Joe Muganda announced that his company would sponsor the event in 2019.
“We will sponsor the event next year and possibly see if we can do a little bit more,” said Mr. Muganda.
Other sponsors included Ned Bank, NIC Capital, Lake Turkana Wind Power, Commercial Bank of Africa, Knight Frank, Syngenta, Williamson Tea, REA Vipingo, Prime Bank, Delta Airlines, DT Dobie, Platinum Credit, SGA Security, Water Sector Trust Fund and GlaxoSmithKline. Air Kenya, Angama Mara, Safarilink, Loisaba Conservancy, Hemingways Watamu, Silverstone Air, Andrew Kamiti and Peter Blackwell donated auction items. Karen Country Club, Matbronze Wildlife Art, Serena Hotels, Island Camp Lake Baringo, Salma Watt, Daphne Butler and Alex Duncanson donated raffle prizes. Farmer’s Choice supported in providing lunch for the golfers while Coca Cola provided drinking water.
Nature Kenya Executive Director Dr. Paul Matiku thanked sponsors for supporting the tournament urging them to help Nature Kenya reach out to more corporates. Dr. Matiku also thanked golfers for turning out in numbers for the tournament.
Jane Wambui emerged overall winner while Eunice Koome and Peter Kiguru were the lady winner and man winners respectively. The team title went to the Nedbank team comprising of Jaap van Luijk, Raymond Nyamweya, Vincent Rague and Mbuvi Ngunze.
This was the sixth consecutive year the charity golf tournament was running under the “Lungs for Kenya” banner. Nature Kenya’s “Lungs for Kenya” initiative seeks to engage local communities to plant trees to restore Kenya’s degraded forests. Among the sites that have benefited from the initiative are the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Taita Hills forests, Dakatcha Woodland and Mt. Kenya forest.
Nature Kenya would like to thank all sponsors who generously contributed towards making the event a success. We would also like to thank the Tournament Director Mr. Alexander Duncanson and the organizing committee, all of our members, special guests and partners who found time to participate in this year’s tournament.
