As teams participating in the 10th edition of the East Africa University Games were travelling to Kenya yesterday, Nkumba University management had no option but to pull out of the competition due to lack of funds to facilitate their teams.
According the university games and sports patron, Patrick Sebuliba, the decision to pull out of the games was taken on Wednesday by the university management after citing economic hardships the university is currently facing.
“I am sorry for my team which had already prepared well. I know it is a bitter pill to swallow but we cannot do with all the challenges we are facing, so we decided to pull out,” he announced.
Nkumba are defending champions in handball men and netball, volleyball both men and women which they won during the 9th edition of the games at UCU in 2014.
But of late, the campus has had numerous problems from strikes and the prevailing economic situation that is biting the university hard. Since the management could not raise all the funds to support the their teams, they opted to quit the sports gala.
About the games
This year’s East African Games is the 10th of its kind and will be hosted by Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology from December 17 to 21, 2016. It is the second time Kenyatta University is hosting the games and most of the participating teams are already on their way with some arrivals already registered at the venue.
Participating universities were initially from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. However, this year, it was expanded to include south Sudan and countries in the horn of Africa.
The games are modeled inform of Olympics with disciplines of football, netball, swimming, scrabble, chess, tennis, table tennis, badminton, martial arts, hockey, handball, athletics among others.
Confirmed universities to compete are:
1. Kenyatta University
2. Kigali institute of science & technology
3. Open University of Tanzania
4. Mzumbe University
5. State University of Zanzibar
6. Mkawa University college of education
7. Moi University
8. University of Dar-es-salaam
9. Kiisi University
10. Gulu University
11. Makerere University Business School
12. Ndejje University
13. Kampala international University
14. Kumi University
15. Kyambogo University
16. University collage pf education Zanzibar
17. Ardhi University
18. St. Augustine University of Tanzania
19. Strathmore University
20. Edgerton University
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