New Sports Minister Uwacu wants Chan 2016 to stay in Rwanda

The newly appointed Minister of Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu has challenged Amavubi to win the 2016 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) that will be held in Rwanda from January 16-February 7. Sports and Culture Minister, Julienne Uwacu. (File) Uwacu, who replaced Joseph Habineza, while giving her maiden speech after swearing in ceremony on Friday, also called upon all institutions that operate under her ministry as well as other stakeholders to work together in order to achieve greater success. “We need to work together as team, we have to work hard even in order to achieve our mission and bring pride to our nation,” she said. The minister added, “We are planning to beef up the national team with many warm-up games. We want to find the best approach to build a solid national team which would be able to challenge and make sure the trophy stays in Rwanda.” She confirmed that construction works on modern stadiums that will host the African Nations Championship have reached advanced stage. The competition will be held at Amhoro Stadium, Kigali Regional Stadium, Huye Stadium and Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu District. Chan is a competition reserved for players featuring in their respective domestic leagues. Democratic Republic of Congo won the inaugural tournament in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009, Tunisia won the 2011 edition in Sudan while Libya are the defending champions. The former Minister of Sports and Culture, Habineza will officially hand over office to Uwacu on Monday. Uwacu has been a Member of Parliament since 2008. Before joining the Chamber of Deputies, Uwacu served as the Vice Mayor of Nyabihu District in charge of economy and development.