IOC boss Bach in Uganda

Because it is the Pearl of Africa!" 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach put his reasons for visiting Uganda quite succinctly after he touched down at Entebbe International Airport on Tuesday.

Bach, clad in a white shirt and grey pants, touched down at around 4pm and was welcomed by Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei, Olympians Halimah Nakaayi and Winnie Nanyondo, IOC member William Blick, Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) president Donald Rukare, Minister of  State for Sports Peter Ogwang, and National Council of Sports chairman Ambrose Tashobya and general secretary Bernard Patrick Ogwel.

"It (Uganda) is also the Pearl of the Olympic movement. It is great to finally make it here and I am looking forward to a great and rich programme.

"We see here great athletes and a great National Committee that leads in issues of governance and support of athletes.

"And when it comes to social responsibility,  they are among our best partners in the work for refugees and are much engaged in sustainability issues. William Blick is also an important member of the IOC, so how could I not come here," Bach explained before he was taken to the Uganda Worldlife Education Centre, where he fed chimpanzees and giraffes, and also saw other animals, to start his sports tourism tour.

Nakaayi believes the visit is an endorsement of Uganda's Olympic programmes and performances over the years.

"It (the visit) is great motivation for our us as athletes but also shows Uganda is progressing in terms of performance. For such an important person to decide to come and see where we come from, shows that we have marketed our country well," Nakaayi said.

For Ogwang, it is a continued opportunity to market the country, "especially our flagship facility like the High Altitude Centre in Teryet. We hope that his visit will give confidence to more athletes to come and train from here."

Bach said all countries cannot have the perfect facilities for every sport but encouraged Uganda to maximize the advantages they have.

"You also have uh, you know, some advantages here with the mountains in Uganda, and you see how Joshua took advantage of these advantages. 

But overall in the IOC, one of our main goals is to level the playing field between all the National Olympic Committees, and we are doing so with the program, which is called the Olympic Solidarity. We have just in increased this Olympic Solidarity fund by 10% to $650 million and from my experience, I can tell you that the Uganda National Olympic Committee is very smart in using almost all of these programmes for the benefit of the athletes," said Bach, who was also accompanied by the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca), Mustapha Berraf.

After Wednesday's dinner with the athletes, he will have another one Thursday but after visiting the Prime Minister at her office, Yes Centre to visit refugees in Nsambya, Olympic Federation heads in Lugogo, the Nnabagereka of Buganda Sylvia Nagginda Luswata in Mengo, President Yoweri Museveni and First Lady and Minister of Education and  Sports Janet Museveni at State House.

Name: Thomas Bach

Nationality: German
Age: 70
IOC term - 2013-2025

Profession: Lawyer

Sport: Fencing
Olympics: Montreal 1976 gold
World Champion : Buenos Aires 1977 

Wednesday Programme 

8am: Prime Minister's Office

10am: Yes Centre, Nsambya

11am: Nnabagereka courtesy call

1pm: Meeting Olympic sports federation leaders

4pm: State House

Evening: Press conference / Dinner