IDPA Championship: Kenyan shooters look to bag wins in South Africa

Kenya IDPA Shooting team at JKIA on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, ahead of a trip to Capetown South-Africa for the Southern Nationals competition. [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

The Kenyan shooting team arrived safely in South-Africa ahead of this year’s IDPA Southern Nationals shooting competition in Touwsrivier Western Cape.

The team has embarked on a two-day training ahead of the event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Capt. Jeff Pesa [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

The team which comprises of mostly civilian gun holders who shoot in Masters, Expert, Marksman and Sharp-shooter categories, commenced training today by acquainting themselves with the type of courses of fire which will be used during the competition.

Team signing in for the training at Gecko nature conservancy range [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

The training which took place at Gecko Rock Private Nature Reserve in Touwsrivier Western Cape, South Africa kicked off with a prayer from Sharpshooter Capt. Jeff Pesa, and was conducted by master shooter Eng. Robert Nyamongo.

NGAO-K Vice chairman Sammy Onyango [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

Eng. Nyamongo took the team through zeroing skills, tennis training, muzzle transmission, dry fire, draw tac squat, moving forward, backside, barricade deep among other disciplines.

According to the chairman Anthony Wahome, shooters must always remember to shoot in the assigned target as cross firing is strictly prohibited.

Robert Kibutiri and Dafton Mwitiki [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

It’s not easy to be in a foreign country and holding your firearm at the same time. Vice chairman Sammy Onyango praised the airport transfers courtesy of South-African’s Airways from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, to Johannesburg and finally to Capetown for the smooth and efficient clearance, the South African gun shops who availed the shooters calibres and other types of ammunition in good time, and also the licensing board for giving the correct types of paperwork required.

Dafton Mwitiki [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

The team will be competing against 100 other shooters from various countries in the IDPA Southern Nationals competition. The shooting targets include moving targets, steel plates, and barricades, partial and disappearing targets.

Gikonyo Mwangi [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

There has been a steady rise in the number of people interested in gaining proficiency in gun handling in Kenya in the recent past. Something that prompted a set of gun owners to come together and provide a facility that could ensure this category of people have their yearning for a special type of skill taken care of.

Chairman Anthony Wahome [Caroline Obuya, Standard]

Such reasons that gave birth to shooting ranges and the rise of bodies such as the National Gun Owners Association to promote responsible use of firearms.