Tauka Athletics Club has engaged President Lazarus Chakwera in a fundraising event aimed at raising K300 million.
This is a 48-hour non-stop event called Fit to Run Malawi Race and is scheduled for July 30-31 from Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre to Area 18 in Lilongwe.
Briefing the press about the activity in Blantyre Thursday, Tauka Head of Operations Mzee Makawa said Chakwera will join the final one kilometer (km) stretch of the race in the capital.
Makawa said Malawi needs to emulate countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia that have developed top athletes through private clubs.
“We have decided to hold this event in order to raise money for our own high performance training centre. We also want to buy a bus for easy transportation of our physically challenged athletes.
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“It is sad that as a country we have never qualified for Olympic Games. It is now time for us to seek support so that we produce athletes who can qualify for big international competitions and win medals,” he said.
Tauka coach Moses Kondowe said proceeds from the event will also help them buy modern training equipment for some physically challenged athletes.
“This is a way of helping such athletes to further improve their game. Since Southern Bottlers Malawi pulled out their sponsorship some years back, we have been struggling to incorporate our colleagues who are physically challenged into our programmes. We want even those with visual impairment to take part in our game.
“We would like to assure the corporate world and everyone who will assist us that there will be transparency and accountability. The money to be raised will be channeled straight into our club’s account,” Kondowe said.
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State House Press Secretary Anthony Kasunda confirmed that Chakwera will welcome the runners but referred the matter to ministry of sports for details.
But the ministry’s spokesperson McMillan Mwale said he was yet to be told about the event.
Runners to join Chakwera in the final stretch of the race in Lilongwe will be asked to pay a K200,000 participation fee each while those participating in the last 20km will cough K20,000 each.
A fee of K10,000 each will also be charged on runners joining the last 10km with those participating in the last 5km paying K5,000.
Companies and organisations will pay K500,000 per stretch
