KAMPALA – Uganda has been left sole organiser of the East African Community games after Parliaments in Rwanda and South Sudan boycotted the games, choosing not to send delegates and to further rub salt into the wound, the two nations didn’t explain why they boycotted the games.
While addressing journalists at Parliament on Friday 15 ahead of the 7th December 2019 games hosted by Uganda, with only Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda sending the team, Gideon Gatpan Thoar, Chairman Inter-Parliamentary Games revealed that the organizers have come for final touches and that most of the preparations are complete with games ready to kick off with 7-8 disciplines to be undertaken including football, netball, volleyball, golf netball, athletics among others.
He said that the games are intended to create collaboration between East African Parliaments and citizens of EAC about the importance of East African Community.
Asked to respond to whereabouts of the missing team nations, Gatpan said, “We have procedure of engagement and our channel of communication we were expecting everybody to be here but we didn’t receive Rwanda and making consultant and make us know what they may come to participate in the actual games. We don’t have evidence why they missed. In reality, this is what happens, there are two countries that haven’t shown up. EAC should celebrate being together.”
Gatpan also said that they are waiting for final communication from the Clerk, East African Legislative Assembly on whether the two nations will send delegates, further admitting that the snubbing has left the organizers with need to reorganize the games.
He said, “You adjust after finding the missing unit. It affects the program. We need to determine the position of Rwanda availability to play and how many disciplines they are willing to play.”
The latest development comes at the time Rwanda chickened out of a meeting that was slated to take place in Kampala on 18th November 2019 as part of the Luanda peace bill signed between President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame following the closure of the border early this year.
The explosive relations between the two nations was worsened when Rwanda shot dead two Ugandans accusing them of trying to smuggle tobacco into their nation.
Job Ebyarishaga and Bosco Tuhirwe were killed at Tabagwe village in Nyagatare District in Rwanda with the Rwandan Government accusing the duo of smuggling tobacco into their nation with Rwanda describing the deaths as a pity and that their death should serve as a tough lesson for Ugandans to know that every country has its own rules, handles crime in its own way and methods neighboring East African country.
