Leemisa Thuseho
GENDER, Youth, Sport and Recreation Minister, Likeleli Tampane, has called on Basotho to support the upcoming African Union Council Region (AUSC) Region 5 Games.
The games will be held in Maseru from 3 to 12 December. This after they were postponed last year on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during a vehicles’ branding launch at the ministry’s offices yesterday, Tampane said the games need Basotho’s full support in various ways for them to succeed.
“Lesotho is going to benefit significantly from these games,” Tampane said adding: “We are striving to make sure that most of the preparatory work is done by locals”.
“These games are for Basotho and they cannot be successful without the support of Basotho. Let’s rally behind our teams and show ownership of the games.”
Eight branded vehicles from the ministry were displayed during the event but the expectation is that over 300 cars will be branded during the exercise.
She said the branding of the cars was a huge step towards the successful hosting the of the games.
Tampane also praised the local organising committee (LOC), Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) as well as the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) for working hard to ensure that the games succeed despite the challenges that include a limited budget and Covid-19-induced difficulties.
“At some stage, it was unclear if the games would happen but through the hard work of the ministry, the LNOC and the LSRC, it is now clear that they will succeed.
“The Region 5 members have also been supportive to the extent that they even contributed financially to help Lesotho host the games,” Tampane said.
Lesotho is looking forward to hosting athletes from Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They will compete in athletics, boxing, basketball, gymnastics, netball, football, judo, tennis, swimming, taekwondo and volleyball.
