UWA urged to tap into athletics

Uganda Athletics Federation has urged the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) to invest more in sports and athletics in particular for visibility on both the local and the world stage.

UAF organising secretary Faustino Kiwa made the remarks while delivering the federation's appreciation speech at the closing ceremony of the national team's three-day tour of Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday.

"I'm confident UWA and UTB would benefit much if they invested in the national team and also owned one of the calendar events like mountain running," Kiwa said. 

The tour was in appreciation of the team's remarkable performance in the world championships where Halima Nakayi won a gold medal in the 800m race and Joshua Cheptegei bagged two golds in the 10000m and 5000m. 

The tour originally scheduled for March 2020 was postponed to November due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yusufu Mwanje, UWA's warden in charge of sports noted that the trip was meant to also equip the athletes who are ambassadors of Uganda with the knowledge about wildlife and environmental conservation as a way of promoting tourism. 

"We want when athletes interact with their friends during competitions they are able to market tourism in Uganda. So we brought them to see and learn what is found in Queen Elizabeth National Park and next time we shall be in another park," Mwanje explained. 

"We shall also continue to absorb these athletes by offering them jobs in the various sectors of UWA," he added. 

Pontious Ezuma, the Queen Elizabeth chief warden urged Ugandans to promote domestic tourism by protecting the environment and its creatures. 

He added that UWA is committed to using sports as a tool of mobilisation in promoting wildlife conservation and tourism in the country.

Halima Nakayi, Winnie Nanyondo, and Ronald Musagala are some of the UWA ambassadors. 

Team captain Stephen Kiprotich thanked UWA and UAF for the tour because it has relieved stress from the athletes as they visited different areas in the park and saw different animals.

The team visited Lake Katwe salt mines, Kyambura Gorge, Kazinga Channel, and Lake Edward to see animals including hippos, lion, buffaloes, kobs, and elephants.