Uganda’s impressive performances at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana that climaxed on March 23, 2024, earned them 20 medals ( 4 gold, 6 silver, and 10 bronze). 

Uganda finishing in the 13th position despite the 20 medals is reflective of the high stakes at the tournament. 

North African giants, Egypt topped the medal table ranking for the third time in a row. Nigeria and South Africa enjoyed a fair share of the big prizes finishing second and third with 122 and 105 medals respectively. 

Hosts, Ghana kept within striking distance with the top guns, registering 69 medals thus finishing in the sixth position. 

Uganda’s arch-rivals Kenya were the only East African country in the top 10 as has been the case for the five editions. 

Strong statement

Uganda’s performance only means one thing, there was improvement compared to the last three editions where their ranking was inconsistent as the medal tally.

In 2011, Mozambique, Uganda came 14th with 8 medals then dropped down to 26 with only 4 medals in the 2015 edition. 

A similar fate befell Uganda in 2019, Rabat, Morocco in terms of ranking, where the Pearl of Africa nation finished 28th but with a better medal tally (10).

At the All Africa games in Ghana, Uganda’s representation was more than just winning medals and improving rankings considering they had taken a bigger number competing in 14 disciplines as opposed to what they had in the previous editions. 

To get 20 medals is such a huge and fantastic achievement by team Uganda that should not be overlooked by anyone and all athletes showed that they wanted to win. 

Teams redeem themselves

Disciplines like Rugby, boxing, and badminton were presented with a massive opportunity to course-correct their previous performances. 

The Uganda men’s rugby sevens team's strong display in Ghana was indicative of lessons learned in their failed attempt to qualify for the World Rugby HSBC series during the Challenger 2024 campaign in Montevideo earlier this month. 

In the yesteryears, boxing used to be Uganda’s dominant sport but that later changed because of internal conflicts between the boxers and the federation then financial constraints, however, glory at the African Games is a glimmer of hope. 

Individuals in athletics especially in the women’s category such as Peruth Chemutai and Halima Nakayi have all been written off due to their slump in form recently but Ghana offered them a platform to prove many people wrong.