24 Mar 2024

The Sir Seretse Khama commemoration marathon honours the life and legacy of Botswana’s first and founding President Sir Seretse Khama.

The marathon billed for the late statesman’s home village, Serowe on June 29-30 is geared toward celebrating his contribution to the nation’s independence, democratic governance, as well as his role in promoting peace, unity and prosperity.

Tonota MP, Pono Moatlhodi made this remarks during Sir Seretse Khama marathon activation in Francistown on Saturday.

He said it was not by mistake but befitting for the marathon to be named in honour of the late leader given his contribution to the nation. 

Moatlhodi explained that classic commemoration marathon was multi purposeful in celebration of an eventful life well lived, promoting the economic and cultural outlook of the historic village of Serowe.

“They also bring up fond memories about the pride and excellence of our founding father, and promote nation building as Batswana will be united across all the privileged towns and cities where this marathon is launched,” he added.

He further indicated that commemorative marathons and other events of this nature did not only promote sports tourism, but also promoted cultural tourism and exchange between all the expected and invited participants and most importantly promote Public, Private Partnerships (PPP).

“Prompting of PPP resonates well with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that highlights the need for advancing “partnerships for Goals” as well as the goal for “building Sustainable cities and communities through collective stakeholder inclusion,” said Moatlhodi.

He therefore, said the Sir Seretse Khama commemorative marathon was a classic event with a huge potential to bring both the nation, the private sector, international community, and government together in remembrance of a great figure that defined the political landscape of Southern Africa and beyond.

Moatlhodi also indicated that the event was in line with the objective of government to prevent non-communicable diseases, through sporting activities.

He said Batswana were known to be a nation characterised by Botho, unity, respect and pride for their heritage and the past.

“That is why I am adamant and confident that majority of Batswana will support and participate fully in the activities leading to this commemoration. The marathon will form part of our rich history as a country when we honour the founding father of this noble nation,” he added. 

For his part, Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Buti Billy said government was dedicated to developing the nation’s citizens through sport.

He said government believed that sport was a powerful tool for uniting people from all walks of life and promoting national unity and cohesion.

“Sport can also foster healthy lifestyle and encourage positive social values such as teamwork and fair play,” he added.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Bokamoso Radipitse of Tonota described the late Sir Seretse Khama as a distinguished, unifying, visionary, transformative leader and called for the event to be held annually as it symbolised the importance of unity and national pride.

The traditional leader also called for mindset change, encouraging Batswana to adopt new ways of thinking and working together for a common good.

The Sir Seretse Khama commemoration marathon and  Botswana Telecommunications Corporation marathon held dual activation, of which the former marathon will be held in Francistown on April 20.

The objective for hosting the marathon in Francistown include, amongst others to positively impact the lives of the communities in pursuit of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

The Sir Seretse Khama commemoration marathon had three categories being the 5km, 10 km and 21.1 km whilst the BTC marathon had 5km, 10km, 21.1km and the 42 km categories. ENDS