The Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton arrived in Kigali on November 9 and will spend three days in the city before heading to Tanzania on Friday, November 12. According to tradition, it is set to be taken around 72 countries and territories that are member states of the Commonwealth. It carries a message of Englands Queen, Elizabeth II that will be read on the opening of the Commonwealth games in Birmingham next year. On Wednesday, November 10 when the Baton was taken to Nyandungu Eco-Tourism park, United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Omar Daair explained that the baton should be looked at in a bigger mirror through which it embeds shared values of Commonwealth countries. “This baton which is a simple piece of metal is celebrated because it holds the shared values in the commonwealth countries, which are inclusivity, unity and peace,” he noted during his remarks. He added that those values ought to be respected because they are the foundation of global development. The same meaning was echoed by Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju, the Minister of Sports. She said that recognizing the Queen’s baton is a sign of bringing people together through sports. “Celebrating this baton implies a continued recognition of the shared commitments of inclusion through sports that were adopted by all Commonwealth member countries,” she highlighted. She added that it is only through having a shared vision that people are able to prosper, because the world possesses diverse cultures and traditions, she noted, it is necessary to adopt common beliefs. On her part, Dr Juliette Kabera, the Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority, also lauded this unique tradition of taking this baton throughout Commonwealth member states which becomes a bond to their unity and prosperity. Apart from Nyandungu Eco-Tourism park, the Queen’s baton is also expected to be taken to the Campaign against Genocide Museum and Gahanga Cricket Stadium before it is handed to Tanzania on Friday, November 12. It is in Rwanda for the third time after 2014 and 2017 respectively.
