Nairobi, Mombasa Walkers Unite for 25km Karura Wellness Challenge
Safaricom supported the 2026 edition of ‘Twende Karura’ wellness walk that took place over the weekend as more than 200 participants drawn from Nairobi and Mombasa took part. The aim of the wellness walk was to help participants achieve their fitness goals while raising awareness for natural remedies to chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and asthma.
The support underlines Safaricom’s continued investment in Kenyan communities through the Safaricom Foundation portfolio. So far, the foundation has impacted more than 7.1 million lives across Kenya’s 47 counties with at least Ksh4.6 billion spent on health. The foundation continues to work with like-minded communities and community organizations to empower and protect the vulnerable in society.
The wellness walk was organized by Karura Running Club (KRC) and Mombasa Walkers Movement (MWM) and was attended by fitness and wellness clubs in Nairobi as well as members of the Kenya Navy and started from the Nairobi City Center early Sunday morning before proceeding to marked trails within Karura Forest amidst early morning showers. A total of 25km was covered by participants across the entire trail.
Mombasa Walkers Movement founder and Chairman Major (Rtd) Abdirahman Idriss lauded Safaricom’s support saying its continued support of community initiatives has widened the impact of foundational activities within the country. He called on more brands to join hands in supporting health awareness drives that go a long way in protecting social structures.
“We are very grateful for Safaricom’s support of this year’s Twende Karura walk. Through our partnership, we managed to reach more clubs within the country and provided a platform for people to meet, interact and achieve their fitness goals. Our long-term goal is to ensure more people join these walks and stay consistent in exercising,” said Major Idriss.
Safaricom continues to support empowerment initiatives across the country. According to the company’s 2026 Sustainability report, Safaricom created KSh 1.247 trillion in value for Kenyan society. This value is in the form of providing employment opportunities for more than 1.4 million Kenyans while also partnering with a wide range of companies across critical economic sectors to reach 4.4 million people with programmes in health, education, economic empowerment, water and environmental conservation.
Safaricom’s support for the wellness walk comes at a time when most people in the country continue to struggle under the burden of chronic lifestyle diseases. Estimates show that about 57% of Kenyan adults are affected by hypertension, diabetes and high blood pressure with most of them unaware of their condition. As such, support for initiatives that raise awareness on such conditions and helping people access natural remedies is crucial to helping people maintain healthy lifestyles.
As Kenya’s burden of lifestyle diseases threatens to continue growing, crucial interventions to help people manage and reverse these conditions will be key. Organized walking clubs already exist and have well documented evidence in helping people overcome lifestyle conditions and achieve their fitness goals.
Both Karura Runners Club and Mombasa Walkers Movement are actively working together to make walking and exercising more accessible to people within major towns and cities in the country with an aim to helping people build healthier communities and raise awareness on natural remedies to managing chronic conditions.
