The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has sent ten athletes to the inaugural All Africa Paralympics Games. The games that started yesterday will climax on February 29th in Rabat, Morocco. Uganda’s team left on Monday afternoon aboard a, Emirates flight.
The 10 athletes are among the 1,200 people expected to compete in the Games that were mooted in 2018. It is seen as an event that would become an official multi sport event held every four years ahead of the Paralympic Games.
The Games will act as a Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games qualifier in some events including athletics, Goalball, blind football and power lifting. Other events are sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and Taekwondo.
However, Uganda is fielding athletes in only athletics, mainly track and field events including the short races of 100m, 200m, then javelin and long jump.
The team has been accompanied by six government and technical officials including the Coach Jameson Ssenkungu and the Senior Administrative Secretary of National Council of Sports, Ivan Mugowa.
The 10 athletes include 8 males and 2 females. They include 2016 Paralympics T46 1,500m silver medalist David Emong who will run T47 1500m alongside team mates Abdul Karim Lubega and Richard Ocira.
Fred Masisa and Sam Mubaje will compete in the T47 100m and 400m events while Wilfred Ocen from Gulu University is eyeing the T37 100m and 200m events.
Al Bashir Bwaga will compete in the T47 400m, 100m and long jump events and Alex Wilson Legu will participate in T47 Long jump, 100m and javelin events.
The female athletes, Peace Oroma from Makerere University will compete in the T12 100m and 200m events while Monica Ilalo of Kyambogo University will take on F12T12 100m, 200m and javelin events.
Coach Ssenkungu told Uganda Radio Network that he is optimistic that 5-7 of the athletes will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympics. The Paralympics will run from 25 August to 6 September.
Mugowa, who is also the Head of delegation says that NCS is hopeful as well that most players will qualify. He added that government has funded 100 percent of the delegation’s budget including purchase of air tickets.
The Games come a month after the initial dates of January 26th to 31st were changed.
The delay was because Morocco changed its sports minister and informed the Africa Paralympic Committee that it had cancelled the event.
However, Ssekungu says that the change in dates affected preparation of the team and therefore the players were summoned last week at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole for a 5 day training.
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