President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed that young athletes should be recruited to serve in different armed forces in Uganda.
While launching the Teryet High Altitude Training Centre in the Kapchorwa district on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, Museveni said absorbing the athletes into the forces would partly better their livelihoods.
He said once recruited in the army, they will get access to training and concentrate on their careers while the government provides them with sources of livelihoods.
“The basics are peace, health, and wealth creation. For sports, music, and others, you can’t do it when there is war. You can’t do it in Somalia at all. Because of peace, the country is stable, and sports are successful; these athletes are able to excel. Even if they are not directly selected by the government, the prevailing situation helped them to perform well,” said the president.
He said, “Let the young athletes be recruited in the armed forces; we keep him there to promote their talents. We don’t have a lot of money yet, but we can support them with our salary. Slowly we shall continue to support the sector.” President Museveni said.
“I had to prioritize the establishment of the Teryet High Altitude Training Centre to train our own people, but it can also attract other people. I’m glad we have built it now; the truck is good, but the accommodations need to be improved,” said the president.
In his message, the president emphasized wealth creation, saying every country should get involved.
“What we want is for all the families to get out of poverty. All of them should become rich,” said the President.
The Minister of Sports and Education, also the First Lady, Janet Kataha Museveni, said the facility will empower athletes to improve their skills.
According to her, the facility will also be a revenue source to the government.
“To invest in the sports sector is not only to develop talents but also to increase revenues for the government. I therefore tasked Minister Ogwang to come up with a concept on how to manage all the sports facilities in the country. The new sports law empowers NCS to manage sporting facilities. We need some guides to empower the council to execute the mandates,” she noted.
Joshua Cheptegei, a world gold medalist holder thanked Government for building the facility saying this will directly improve on their talents.
The first phase of the Teryet High Altitude Training Centre was built at the cost of Shs27 billion, and the second phase will cost about Shs90 billion.
The facility sitting on a 45-acre plot of land has a surface playground for both rugby and football, a running track, and a jogging track measuring up to about 3 km.
