Overview:
Rev. Professor Florence Isabirye Muranga, the General Director of BIRDC hinted about the relevance of the right nutrition to the young aspiring athletes and the active ones as well.
Uganda joined the rest of the other 74 territories and countries under the Commonwealth movement to celebrate the 2026 Commonwealth Day.
The celebrations were held at The Olive School Namugongo in Kampala on Sunday, 8th March 2026 (also the International Women’s Day).
President of Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC)/ Commonwealth Games Uganda (CGU) and Commonwealth Sport, Dr Donald Rukare, graced the celebrations whose theme was hinged on ensuring a clean and green environment.
Some of Uganda’s medalists at the previous Commonwealth Games as Teddy Nakimuli (boxer), Juma Miiro (boxer), and Jonathan Kyobe (boxer), joined by the UOC athletes’ representative, Shadir Musa Bwogi, also attended this event.
It was also an opportune moment to officially launch the official countdown of 137 days to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
“We are glad to officially launch the countdown to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Such celebrations also highlight the values we cherish as part of the Commonwealth family; unity, humanity and equality,” Dr Rukare, who educated the pupils about the Commonwealth Games, remarked.
Dr Rukare later played basketball actively with the young pupils on the court.
The Commonwealth Day celebrations were held in partnership with the Banana Industrial Research and Development Centre (BIRDC), the producers of Tooke products; The Olive School Namugongo and Little Hands Go Green.
Rev. Professor Florence Isabirye Muranga, the General Director of BIRDC hinted about the relevance of the right nutrition to the young aspiring athletes and the active ones as well.
“Great champions of all times started humbly at schools like this,” Dr Professor Muranga, the UOC Nutrition Ambassador, hinted.
“It is therefore important to have a healthy mind in a healthy body. You can not be excellent without a healthy body. You need a balanced diet. The world needs intelligent and hardworking people,” She remarked.
“Be agents of change to bring new records for the school. Engage in games that had never done before. Front the values of respect, togetherness, think globally and always use products benchmarked by those excelling professionals,” Rev. Prof Muranga added.
Pupils, leaders and professional athletes were rewarded with different Tooke products, such as cookies, biscuits, Tooke flour and others.
“I welcome the Uganda Olympic Committee and BIRDC leaders to The Olive School Namugongo. We highly value the relevance of sports in building a holistic child,” Richard Omumwa, The Olive School Namugongo head teacher, hinted.
The pupils later engaged in different games, such as Basketball, running (athletics) and football. The teachers and other officials also took part in the running of 100M sprints.
Little Hands Go Green is another partner of UOC implementing the initiatives of preserving the environment, such as tree planting.
