As Malawi is getting set to host the 2022 African Union Region Five Games for the first time in the history of the competition, organizers say preparations are going very well and the country is very positive and very determined about hosting the games in December 2022.
This was disclosed during a press briefing which took place at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe.
Speaking on behalf of the organizing committee Stanley Mutoya, CEO for African Union Sports Council Region 5, said they are quite impressed with the progress made by the Government of Malawi so far and they are happy with the steps that have been put in place to make sure everything is done before December 2022.
“With regards to the games what we have observed is the consistency of the Government of Malawi towards their promises and what they have promised to do and we are very happy that has happened. We are also quite very happy with the status of preparedness by our member countries as most of them have identified numbers of athletes that they have and have already entered their athletes.
“We are also happy with the steps that have been put in place by Government of Malawi, trust me after 11 December 2022, Malawi will never be the same again in terms of infrastructure, in terms of legacy that these games are going to leave and in terms of sports tourism,” explained Mutoya.
He added that there are quite a number of areas where Malawi has done very well in preparation for the games which include progress of construction of a swimming pool at Griffin Sayenda and identification of accommodation for various stakeholders.
“But there are some areas that not only Malawi but together must hold hands and quicken our steps and one of those areas is that we just have to make sure that we maintain the momentum on the construction of facilities and we also need to maintain the momentum to ensure that procurement of equipment is expedited.
“Those will be areas that we are going to quicken our steps together with Malawi and that’s why I was saying you will see us more often here just to ensure that we work together as a team,” said Mutoya.
Chef- de- mission for team South Africa Patience Chikwambana said they are definitely convinced and very positive that Malawi will be able to host the games.
“We have seen the state of readiness and this is giving us some kind of confidence, the key important thing is what they presented to us in the past two days and when we come back in August, we need to see improvement. Another thing we want to see is these events leaving a legacy in Malawi. So, from our side we are grateful that we had an opportunity to be given state of readiness from their point of view and we are hopeful that when we come back, we will see better things,” said Chikwambana.
On his part, Mothusi Thipe, Basketball Technical Delegate said, he is quite impressed with the amount of work that has been done with facilities so far and that he is very hopeful that everything will be done by December in readiness for the games.
Organisers and country representatives on Sunday 19 June, 2022 inspected 12 sports venues in Lilongwe.
Some of the venues are the Bingu National Stadium, Griffin Sayenda Sports Complex, Natural Resources College Sports Centre, Nalikule Teachers College, Civil Stadium and Kamuzu Institute for Sports Aquatic Center.
Some of the games to be played during the Region 5 games are Judo, Volleyball, Boxing, Netball, Swimming, tennis and Football.
The competition usually hosts more than 3,500 athletes and officials, hence the need for proper preparations.
The games will be played from 2-11 December this year.
