Uganda’s golden boy Joshua Cheptegei has launched a Shs. 1.7Bn fundraising drive to complete an athlete training centre that he is constructing in his home district of Kapchorwa.
The construction of the training centre which started in 2018 following Cheptegei’s success in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, has not been able to reach completion since.
The 5000m 2020 Olympics champion while speaking at a press conference held at Serena Hotel Kampala on Thursday said that the facility will also double as a museum for Ugandan athletics history.
“It will also host tourists that could be interested in athletics. Today, we launch a 100-day public fundraising drive to raise 1.7 billion shillings towards the completion of this project.” Cheptegei announced.
According to Cheptegei, athletes need the right space and training to be able to compete at the highest level and urged Ugandans to contribute to the dream.
“Fellow Countrymen, the Olympics represent a pinnacle of excellence for any athlete across the world, and working towards and achieving that excellence requires the right kind of mental space, infrastructure and training,” He said.
The campaign that starts today has been code named “Run with Cheptegei” and well wishers can contribute through Momo Pay and a bank account.
“For Momo Pay, dial *165*3# and insert a merchant code: 319325.”
For the bank account options, one will send to the account number 9030016912866 in the names of Cheptegei Joshya Kiprui.
Cheptegei thanked Ugandans and President Museveni for the support although the Tokyo Olympics that ended last week.
