dyton mupawaenda
Ellina Mhlanga-Senior Sports Reporter
AFRICAN Union Sports Council Region 5 have lined up a number of activities across their member countries to celebrate their silver jubilee, chief executive officer Stanley Mutoya has said.
The region is made up of 10-member countries — Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Speaking to Zimpapers Sports, Mutoya said they will launch the silver jubilee celebrations in Zambia, in May and it will be followed by a number of activities.
“We will be launching the silver jubilee on the margins of the 2024 Regional Sports Awards that are going to be held in Zambia. It will be on 25 May. So on 24 May we will be launching the silver jubilee.
“It is our hope and trust that it will then be followed a series of celebrations. We have domesticated the celebrations in each of our member countries,” said Mutoya.
The activities will include the launch of the Regional Sports Museum in Zimbabwe.
The AUSC Region 5 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Zimbabwe in January 2020 to establish a regional sports museum in the country.
“In Zimbabwe, we are launching a museum. But on the margins of that we will be having a cultural festival in Zimbabwe in November as part of the silver jubilee celebrations.
“So we will be doing the setting up between now and November and we will be announcing the actual date when we are launching the museum. We were given space at the National Sports Stadium, so that’s where we will be setting up the museum.
“Things happened in between but we have re-gathered the direction to move,” said Mutoya
Angola will host a basketball fiesta while a legends football match as well as track and field event is going to take place in Botswana and South Africa will play host to the regional annual marathon.
“So from Zambia, in Angola we will be having a basketball fiesta. Angola, being a basketball nation, we are doing a 3×3 fiesta in collaboration with FIBA Africa. We are hoping to leave a jubilee basketball court in Angola as a legacy that we leave there.
“In Mozambique we have a netball celebration because Mozambique and Angola do not have netball. So we are introducing netball in Mozambique and Angola.
“But we are focusing more on Mozambique. So we will leave a jubilee netball court but also setting up netball in Mozambique.
“South Africa is hosting our regional annual marathon which is resuming. It had stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic but we are resuming now. So it will be a jubilee marathon we are hosting in South Africa.
“Botswana is going to be hosting a legends football match for both male and female, and also a legends track and field athletics as part of our jubilee. So we expect the regional football legends as well as athletics legends to be converging in Botswana.
“The Region 5 Games torch is going to be moving from country to country, including Lesotho, Eswatini as well as Malawi
“So when the torch gets to Lesotho, Malawi and Eswatini, there will be localised activities to celebrate our silver jubilee as well in those countries.
“And of course, Namibia being the host of our games we will then have a majority of our silver jubilee celebrations,” said Mutoya.
Online Reporter