President Lazarus Chakwera says Malawi is honoured to host the Region 5 Games and the games will assist to strengthen the relationship that exist between African countries.
Chakwera made the remarks yesterday when he officially opened the 10th edition of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) 5 Youth Games at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The Malawi President was accompanied by the President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi who is on official working visit to Malawi.
It was a night of happiness, history was made last night, Two helicopters flying flags for the host Country and AUSC were a great sight to the huge crowd and also fireworks brought some momentum at the stadium everyone was excited.
At the opening ceremony, Malawian popular artists, Eli Njuchi and Gwamba also gave an amazing Performances sending people into high spirits at the launch.
To mark the official opening of the Region 5 Youth Games President Chakwera conducted the lighting of the cauldron.
Speaking at the event, President Chakwera said he has been looking forward to hosting the games for the first time and also looking forward to see African brothers and sister reunited as one family.
Chakwera added that Malawi is honoured to host the games and the tournament will assist to strengthen relationship that exist between African countries.
“I have been looking
forward to this day for months. I have been
looking forward to see all of us as African brothers and sister reunited as one family. I
have been looking forward to watch our people
display to the world their creative and athletic
abilities. I have been looking forward to see our youth demonstrate Africa’s capacity for
endurance, resilience, fair play, and victory. And I have definitely been looking forward to
enjoy every game in every discipline,” explained Chakwera.
Chakwera also noted that sport is about the development of people and strengthening our minds to achieve great feats.
“What we believe is that the solution to our problems lies in building on those positives, building on our successes, building on our unity, and building on our strengths.
“What we believe
is that sport is about more than playing games,
because sport is about the development of our people and strengthening our minds to achieve great feats. What we believe is that we are more than just a continent with problems and
suffering, for we are a continent with abilities, a
continent with agency, a continent with dreams,
a continent with inspiration, a continent with energy and vitality, and a continent that values our shared humanity,” said Chakwera.
Chakwera added that the Government of Malawi made sure to allocate adequate resources for preparations and hosting of the games, including the successful construction of Sports facilities of International standard, which are the 10,000 seater Griffin Saenda indoor complex and the 5,000 seater National Aquatic Complex.
He then implored African countries to devise mechanisms that can assist in the development of sports.
On his part, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi expressed gratitude for being part of the 10th edition of the Region 5 Games.
Region 5 Chief Executive Officer Stanley Mutoya said this year’s games have attracted a record number of athletes and that these games will leave a long lasting legacy in Malawi.
Mutoya added that the games have produced several stars including Patson Daka of Zambia and Caster Semenya of South Africa among others.
Malawi is hosting the Region 5 Youth Games for the first since the games were introduced in 2004.
Over 2500 athletes from 13 countries are taking part in the games. The athletes are competing in various sporting disciplines including football, netball, basketball, boxing, judo and taekwondo.
Yesterday, Malawi Under-17 boys’ National Football Team faced Botswana in the opening match of the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Cosafa qualifier which ended 2-2.
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Malawi24
