PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe insisted on the 2014 Zone VI Youth Games being hosted by Bulawayo after some officials wanted the games to be held in Harare, a senior minister revealed yesterday.
SPORTS REPORTER
Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting at the Large City Hall yesterday, Sport, Arts and Culture minister Andrew Langa said: “At one stage there were people who wanted the games to be hosted by Harare because there were no adequate facilities in Bulawayo to host the event. However, President Mugabe insisted that the games be hosted by Bulawayo. The matter was brought to Cabinet yesterday (Wednesday) and the president ensured his interest to make sure the games will be a success,” he said.
Langa noted that come 2014 December, the event would be a success and Bulawayo would benefit immensely from proceeds accrued during the hosting of the games.
“We don’t want to see the people of Bulawayo not benefiting from this because we have seen consortiums of people coming from other provinces to do jobs that can be done by our own people, hence I would like to urge people of Bulawayo to use this opportunity wisely especially members of the corporate world,” Langa said.
A council of sports ministers from 10 participating Sadc countries is scheduled to meet today at a local hotel to discuss prospects of how the event could be made a success and change the name of the games.
The sports ministers arrived in the City of Kings and Queens yesterday.
Zimbabwe is set to take over the chairmanship of the region from Zambia by virtue of hosting the games next year.
