EALASCA 2024 Games officially kick off in Kisumu county

The Star Kenya

The East Africa Local Authorities Sports and Cultural Association (EALASCA) 2024 Games has officially kicked off at the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Mamboleo.

Transcript

00:00 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:21 This game started in 2008.

00:27 It started from Machakos.

00:29 So we have been rotating in all East African countries.

00:34 But we are interrupted by COVID.

00:37 And we decided to give up then.

00:41 And we ended up coming to Kisumu.

00:46 Kisumu has hosted--

00:48 had hosted Alaska before.

00:49 But this time, we came and said, no.

00:51 Let us go back to our friends.

00:54 So that's why we are here.

00:57 And we are very grateful to the--

01:00 [INAUDIBLE] the deputy governor of Kisumu for having hosted us.

01:05 The purpose of these games is to interpret this relationship

01:13 we have among the local authorities,

01:19 the political leaders--

01:21 we say political leaders, because we don't say politician--

01:24 political leaders and technical officers.

01:27 So that they come together.

01:29 This helps them to network, to market their places where

01:34 we hold the games from, and to come up

01:38 with a regional cooperation so that we

01:40 have got East African community.

01:43 We have got many other associations affiliated

01:48 with the same.

01:49 So these games help us to bond that.

01:54 And it has made them-- because we are here,

01:57 through-- though we have been having so many challenges,

02:00 but we have managed to move them through the [INAUDIBLE]

02:02 governor.

02:03 OK.

02:04 So how many countries are participating in the games

02:06 currently?

02:06 Uganda.

02:08 Because of the short time, you know,

02:11 that's why I'm appreciating the governor.

02:13 He has done it in one month.

02:16 He came up and said, in one month, let us hold Alaska.

02:20 We could not hold Alaska twice in a year.

02:23 But we are likely to host Alaska, even in December.

02:28 This is just when Alaska is supposed to take place.

02:31 Now, the other countries, they were saying now,

02:33 if there's Alaska-- and the short time,

02:35 you know you cannot prepare in one month or whatever.

02:39 So we have had two countries, Uganda and Kenya.

02:43 Will they be participating in the coming games?

02:46 Yes, they will be participating.

02:47 How many?

02:48 You can mention them twice.

02:49 I cannot predict.

02:51 But you know, East African communities now big.

02:55 We have got Somalia.

02:57 We have got southern Sudan.

02:59 We have got Congo.

03:00 We have got Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and Kenya.

03:05 Because we are here.

03:08 This game will take how long?

03:09 Maybe the period of four days.

03:11 Four days.

03:13 Well, for the next four days, Kisumu

03:16 will be hosting, actually starting today,

03:19 the Alaska games.

03:20 These games are playing local governments,

03:24 or what we call in Kenya, subnational governments,

03:27 with other local authorities together in East Africa.

03:32 And so we have a theme.

03:35 Like for this year, we are saying

03:36 we are building synergy.

03:40 I can just say it.

03:41 It's saying building synergy is through sports and culture.

03:45 Building synergy through sports and culture.

03:48 In East Africa, we are trying to integrate.

03:51 In our economy, we are integrating.

03:55 In our politics, we are integrating.

03:56 You are aware that now we have the East African Legislative

04:00 Assembly.

04:01 And we believe that one of the ways

04:03 that we can help integrate East Africa is through sports.

04:07 Because there's nothing that brings us together

04:10 like our sports and our culture.

04:13 And so it is our opportunity as the county of Kisumu,

04:16 as the city of Kisumu, and our country,

04:18 to host this year's edition of the Alaska Games.

04:21 As you've been told, we are here with Uganda.

04:26 They have sent a very big delegation.

04:27 By the more than 90 participants.

04:31 Kenyans, of course, we are here with the COSCA, which

04:35 is really the executive arm of the subnational governments

04:39 that they have.

04:40 But also we have CAF.

04:42 CAF is the Assemblies Federation that

04:47 brings together the county assemblies in Kenya.

04:49 But we have integrated them among ourselves.

04:52 So the team that we have, for example, for football,

04:54 is basically a Kenyan team that brings together the county

04:57 assembly, the county executive, from all over Kenya.

05:00 Before one team that then presents us

05:02 in this particular tournament.

05:04 So we are looking forward to people coming in,

05:09 to also get to support the team that are playing here.

05:12 But not just that, to appreciate other people and their culture.

05:16 And also to help us in that kind of integration

05:19 that we're talking about.

05:21 Lastly, we have AFKON coming up in 2027.

05:26 And the AFKON edition, this time around,

05:28 will be hosted by East Africa as a unit.

05:32 Some matches will be played in Uganda,

05:33 some matches will be played in Kenya,

05:35 some matches will be played in Tanzania.

05:38 So it is time that we build momentum towards AFKON.

05:43 That's why, Chair, we are hoping that the next edition of the

05:46 Alaska really should have as many countries within East

05:49 Africa participating and build momentum towards 2027

05:53 when we host AFKON.

05:55 And in that time, we are looking forward

05:56 to people crossing the borders to watch the matches in whichever

06:01 country based on who will be playing at that time.

06:05 And on behalf of the governor, again,

06:06 we welcome all the participants, those of them who are from out

06:10 of the country, but even those of them who are participating

06:12 from other countries in our country.

06:15 And we look forward to seeing you.

06:17 [END PLAYBACK]

06:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended