Commonwealth Games: Uhuru to receive Queen’s Baton Relay tomorrow

By GILBERT WANDERA

KENYA: The Commonwealth Games is here again and as a curtain raiser to the event, the Queen’s Baton Relay arrives in Nairobi tomorrow through to Monday in a move that is aimed at creating awareness of the event.

This year, the baton visit 70 countries covering a distance of 190,000km according to the 2014 games official website.

Tomorrow, President Uhuru Kenyatta will receive the baton at Uhuru Park from renowned sports lawyer Sharad Rao.

According to organisers of the event, school children, officials from national federations as well as some elite athletes will run the baton through Nairobi streets.

On the second day of its tour, British High Commissioner to Kenya Chris Turner will take part in running the baton from his residence to Karura forest along with British Council director Tony Reilly and staff from the commission.

There will also be a children’s event on Monday at Karura forest attending by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.

Various events like tree planting, football matches and entertainment will be on offer at the venue.

After concluding the Kenyan tour, the baton will then be handed over to National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) chairman Kipchoge Keino to take it on the East African tour later in the week.

The 2014 baton relay was launched last year at  Buckingham Palace, at a ceremony where Her Majesty the Queen placed her message to the Commonwealth into the baton.

According to the 2014 commonwealth games website, this year the baton will be relayed by thousands of people throughout the Commonwealth countries, each one honoured by their own nation to participate in this unique tradition.

“Magical memories will be created on this journey across continents, terrains and time zones.

From Sydney Harbour Bridge to the forests of Rwanda; from Pacific Islands to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, the baton will showcase each nation and territory in the Commonwealth,” says information on the website.

The finish line for the relay will be in the host nation Scotland just in time for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony in Russia, where Her Majesty The Queen will read aloud Her message to the Commonwealth.

Kenya will be seeking a better performance in this year’s games after finishing fourth in the last event held in India four years ago.

Then Kenya collected 33 medals including 12 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze.

The local Olympic committee has indicated a desire to send a bigger contingent to Scotland.

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