The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa says that sport can be used as an important driver in the East African Community (EAC) integration process.
Tayebwa said that sport brings Members of Parliament from the eight partners states in the EAC closer as they strive to achieve the objectives of deepening, widening and tightening the integration process.
“Sports is very important because most of the members in the region do not know each other and yet they are supposed to pass laws that are key for the integration process. We are now much closer at the people representative level,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker made these remarks as he prepared to lead Team Uganda in the golf tournament at the 14th EAC Inter-Parliamentary Games on Tuesday, 10 December 2024 at the Nyali Golf and Country Club in Mombasa, Kenya.
Tayebwa added that he was happy that the President of Kenya, William Ruto, officiated at the opening of the EAC Games in Mombasa City, adding that it was a sign of commitment from the leaders in the community.
“I hope the executives can take it up from there. It means a lot for the integration process and we are ready to support and market it and listen to the challenges faced by each country especially from the perspective of representatives and build on parliamentary democracy,” he said.
Tayebwa also shared about the health benefits of sport. “What we are doing is saving very many members from going for treatment for non-communicable diseases; they have had over three months of exercise in preparation for the games,” he said.
Tayebwa said that he is impressed with the overall performance of Team Uganda.
“We expect Uganda to retain the overall championship which we won in Kigali, Rwanda. I expect the team to win all the key prizes in the golf competition,” he stated.
In the games played so far, Uganda beat Kenya 3-1 in football with Tanzania drawing with Burundi 1-1.
In basketball, the Uganda men’s team beat Burundi 50-36 while the women’s team beat Kenya 66-13.
In netball, the Uganda ladies team beat Kenya by three sets to one while their male counterparts lost to Kenya by the same score.
In the track and field events, Uganda aced the 100M races for both the men and women, the 1500M for men and came second in the women’s race.
The games that started on 06 December will run until the 18 December 2024.
