In a bid to boost sports in Uganda and safety in motorsport, Victoria University and The Ruparelia Foundation, a charitable arm of the Ruparelia Group have donated to the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda (FMU) a fully equipped ambulance.
This is the Federation’s first ambulance in the 20 years of its existence, according to its President, Dipu Ruparelia.
The ambulance was handed over by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Lawrence Muganga and Rajiv Ruparelia, the Group’s Managing Director.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Dr. Muganga said that Victoria University and the Foundation would “continue working closely with the FMU and motorsport fraternity in general, to improve the safety of all the actors in the sport and equally important build their capacity through Continuing Professional Development.”
“Victoria University carries state-of-the-art Health Science Laboratories designed to transform health science education in Uganda. With some of the most comprehensive health science education facilities in the country, Victoria University is the premier training site for tomorrow’s health professionals,” he said.
“Victoria University’s dedication to cutting-edge research, technology and collaboration with leading professionals enables our Health Science Faculty to provide one of the finest learning and teaching environments in the nation,” he said.
Dr. Muganga also announced that Victoria University had started offering cutting-edge professional training including Sports Development and Management, which was available for the entire FMU fraternity and all Ugandans to benefit from.
“Victoria University’s Sports Development And Management course is designed to empower you with life-long skills in sports development, management and science, allowing you to develop a rewarding career in sport. The Course can help you become a sports manager who can lead sport organizations in a range of activities. You’ll learn how to support marketable, profitable and competitive teams on and off the field, with specialized learning in systems, marketing, finance, management, law, analytics, to mention but a few,” he said.
I&M Select Banking Sapphire Club wins “Best Innovation of the Year” at UMEAS 2025Dipu Ruparelia said the ambulance was a significant milestone as the Federation continues its quest to make motorsport safer on one hand, but also build capacity and own assets of its own.
“This is a huge achievement on our quest to make motorsport safe in Uganda. This is going to help us evacuation of emergency evacuations of our competitors in all disciplines of motorsport- rallying, motorcycling etc,” he said.
He said this was the first ambulance to be fully owned by the Federation in 20 years of its existence.
“Yes, we have clubs who have ambulances, and we are grateful to them for letting us use them, but there’s a difference when you have your own ambulance, that our 15 clubs can use for their events and activities,” he said.
Rajiv Ruparelia, the Managing Director of Ruparelia Group, Victoria University Council Member and himself one of Uganda’s top rally drivers, said that having an ambulance of their own, apart from boosting the Federation’s asset base, also boosts confidence amongst drivers participating in rallies.
He however urged motorsport fans to become more responsible and observe safety protocols along the racecourses.
‘The fans need to become more responsible, individually amongst their own community, because they should know the risks and danger, they’re putting themselves into; they should know the risks and dangers they are putting the driver into. And this (the ambulance) should only be in case of an emergency- but as the motorsport community, this should be something we avoid using at all costs,” he said.
