PM to grace AUSC Region 4 Council of Sports Ministers meeting

The meeting is expected to approve Tanzania as the headquarters of the council secretariat.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Sports Saidi Yakubu said all is set for the  Council of Sports Ministers meeting.

Speaking at the end of the AUSC committee of experts meeting on Tuesday, Yakubu said the meeting also tackled the role of sports in addressing macro and social issues affecting the region. 

He also informed the delegates of Tanzania's readiness to be the headquarters of AUSC Region 4.

Yakubu said housing the AUSC Region 4 secretariat is part of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's efforts of advancing sports diplomacy policy in the country.

He stated: "We had a very successful committee of AUSC Region 4 Sports experts meeting where we looked at many things to advance Sports in our region and more importantly we presented our proposal to be the headquarters of the AUSC Region 4 secretariat.

"We informed the delegates on our readiness and willingness to become the headquarters of AUSC Region 4 secretariat, having the headquarters of the council will among others promote sports diplomacy our President Samia Suluhu Hassan's leadership is advancing," he said. 

He promised the delegates that once Tanzania is approved to serve as the headquarters of AUSC Region 4, it will host the AUSC Region 4 Games and hand over awards for best sportsmen and women in the region, seeking to promote sports in the region.

Minister for Culture, Arts, and Sports Pindi Chana and her colleagues from the AUSC Region 4 region are expected to attend the meeting.

Also in attendance is Zanzibar Minister for Information, Youth, Culture, and Sports Tabia Maulid, top sports officials from Tanzania and AUSC Region 4 as well as leaders of national sports federations. 

The last time the AUSC Region 4 Council of Sports Ministers held its meeting was in 2018 in Uganda. Since that time, a lot of developments and issues have emerged impacting sports both negatively and positively. 

The ministers are expected to articulate these issues and pronounce policy direction to steer the industry and move forward.

Yakubu also said the Council of Sports Ministers will approve strategies and policies that will stimulate and rediscover the trajectory of sports under the new normal that the entire world finds itself in.

The Permanent Secretary further disclosed that the Council of Sports Ministers meeting will also amend the AUSC Region 4 constitution to allow the formation of the Council of Permanent Secretaries.

He revealed the Council of Permanent Secretaries is vital as it makes decisions that are critical to the development of sports in the region.

The ministers are also expected to evaluate and recommend the performance of sports in all member countries.

The Council of Sports Ministers is the supreme policy-making organ of AUSC Region 4 and, among its numerous duties, is to formulate policies and regulations on the administration, organization, and promotion of sports in the region.

Tanzania will resume regional chairmanship as the mandate of the current chairman, Uganda, expires.

More than 100 delegates are in the country for the meetings.

The AUSC is the technical arm of the African Union Commission (AUC) under the Department of Social Affairs, functioning as the supreme authority for the coordination of the African Sports movement. 

AUSC Region 4 member states are Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.