Traveling a grueling 46 hours from Kampala to Dar es salaam by road is no mean feat by ordinary standards.The Ugandan teams defied every odd along the way to the Mabibo games village in Tanzania. The foreign contingent of teams for the 8th East African Inter-University games is already in the Tanzanian capital ahead of the official kickoff slated for Friday afternoon at the University of Dar es salaam.
The Ugandan delegation that includes the Defending champions, Ndejje University, 5 time record champs, Makerere University, Nkumba, Mbarara, MUBS, KIU, Kampala University, UCU, among others will have to overcome fatigue and quickly acclimatize to the swelling hot temperatures of over 27 degrees to score positive results.
Tanzania’s Cabinet minister in charge of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Fenella Mukangara will officiate at the opening ceremony of the games. Mukangara, will represent the president who had been earlier slated to grace the opening ceremony.
This year’s cocktail of games that includes football, karate, basketball, volleyball, track and field athletics, Tae kwando, table tennis, tennis, scrabble, handball, chess, Netball, and Handball shall be be held under the theme “Promoting regional cooperation and peace through sports”.
According to the coordinator of the games, Noel Kiusi, many teams are expected not merely to participate but to compete for the top honours. “We expect 49 teams and all the athletes are being accommodated at the official games village in Mabibo.
Such games have produced the game’s superstars like the Kawuma Brothers (Chess), Brian Umony (Football), Peace Proscovia (Netball), Ibrahim Kongo junior (Handball), Malinga Solomon (Volleyball), Michael Wokoroach (Rugby), Edward Ewoch (Hockey) and a host of many others.
Ndejje University are the game’s defending champions having beaten 45 other universities in the game’s 7th Edition played at Kenyatta University in Kenya.
FORMER CHAMPIONS SINCE 1999:
2010 Ndejje
2007 Makerere
2006 Makerere
2004 Makerere
2002 Makerere
2001 Makerere
1999 Ergerton
