Following the outbreak of Typhoid in Gweru and the subsequent investigations by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, we have been in further consultations with the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for the Midlands Province, the Sports and Recreation Commission Board, the Local Organizing Committee for the Games and other key stakeholders for guidance on how to proceed with the matter at hand, resultantly we regret to advise that the above captioned Games which were scheduled to be hosted from 15-28 August 2018 have been postponed to December 2018.
“This action has been necessitated by the need to avoid putting the lives of participating athletes and officials at risk of contracting possible Typhoid. While the hosting of the Games has been deferred, other processes such as resource mobilization to support the Games will go on until the Games are held in December 2018.
“It is also in this regard that we wish to advise all Provincial Teams still in camp to decamp as a matter of urgency so that they do not continue to incur further costs.
As part of the way forward, the SRC, the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation and the Local Organizing Committee will convene an all stakeholders’ General Assembly in the near future to discuss the technical issues on how to move forwards with postponed Games. The Assembly will focus on the scope, format and exact timing of the deferred Games”, said Joseph Muchechetere SRC Acting Director General.
We would like to thank all stakeholders and partners for the support rendered towards the Games process and cordially invite others to avail more support so that the December edition is a resounding success story. Also note that all the key Ministries and key stakeholders involved with the Games will be officially written to advising them of this development.
The patience exhibited by our provincial teams, parents and partners during the past week when consultations with higher authorities were underway is highly appreciated.
