Basketball in Africa

by Philip Onyango
Nairobi

A bumper entry is expected for the Cry For Peace basketball tournament which takes place at Mombasa Baptist High School grounds this weekend.

According to tournament convenor Hilmi Ali, the two day event, whose aim will be to preach peace, during current political crisis, will be graced by among others the commissioner of Sports Gordon Oluoch and invited Coast members of parliament.

"It is unfortunate to see that the youth are always found in the middle of the violence which has so far claimed several lives and destroyed property worth millions of shillings and would want to use basketball to try and bring an end to this," he said.

Ali said the tournament will also be used by the clubs and schools to prepare for the basketball season which starts next month.

Untapped talent

He has therefore appealed to teams to take advantage of free participation to attend the tournament in large numbers adding that the tournament will also help in identifying untapped talent which could be recruited by national classic league clubs for the coming season.

Mombasa Baptist High school and Shimba Hills Secondary clash in the first match at 8.00 am to be followed by a girls match between Mombasa High School and Shimba Hills Secondary.

The third match of the day will see Makupa Lakers battle it out with Changamwe Rollers in a mouth watering clash which is expected to be a real thriller.

Other teams which have confirmed their participation are Mlaleo, Mombasa Sports Club, Makande Rebels and Kisauni Kings.
In another development, the nation wide basketball branch elections which were programmed to take place on January 5 but were postponed due to the post election violence will now take place on January 26.

Kenya Basketball Federation vice chairman Henry Shihemi said the national elections will therefore be held on February 2 to elect new officials who will run the basketball affairs in the country for the next couple of years.

Two main camps have emerged at the Coast with one group being fronted by former fixtures secretary Anthony Ojukwu while the other group is led by former Kenya and KPA star player Himi Ali.