Olympic gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei has launched a shs. 1.7bn fundraising drive to complete an athlete training centre in Kapchorwa.
Construction of the training centre started in 2018, following Cheptegei's success in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Speaking in a press conference held at Serena Hotel Kampala on Thursday, Cheptegei said that the facility will double as a museum for Ugandan athletics history.
“It will also host tourists that could be interested in athletics,” Cheptegei said.
He said, “Today, we launch a 100-days public fundraising drive to raise 1.7 billion shillings towards the completion of this project.”
Cheptegei said that athletes need the right space and training to be able to compete at the highest level and urged Ugandans to contribute to this 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 explained.
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.