KAMPALA, UGANDA: The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has collected over 948 million shillings from the 2023 edition of the seven hills run, a-21 kilometre run covering the seven hills of the country’s Capital Kampala.
Funds from the run organized by the NSSF as part of the Social Corporate Responsibility effort will support social causes including keeping the girl child in School.
NSSF hoped to mobilize one billion shillings to support various interventions at selected public schools across the country.
Patrick Ayota, the NSSF acting managing director, informed journalists that the run attracted up to 8,000 participants, from which 948 million shillings were collected.
Ayota says that the numbers that turned up were not expected.
“We have been able to rise about 948 million shillings, 400 million in cash, the balance in kind. It has been great, remember we had a target of one billion shillings, and we think by the end of the day we should be able to get all the money we need for that purpose. Close to 8,000 people turned up for this run which is very good because we thought people had forgotten due to the Covid break”
He said the next step is to select which schools will benefit from the proceeds of the Run. He said they are targeting public or government-aided schools.
The schools according to Ayota t must have a good governance structure, with an active PTA, should be in a good relationship with the district, and must be non-partisan. “The idea is we look out for a school in each of the regions and see what we can do with it” Ayota explained.
Ayota said s that the selection will go through a properly described procedure, and at least one school will be picked from any of the regions in the country.
He adds that for this cause, they are focusing on innovation, sanitation, and digital education within these schools.
The Run was flagged off at Kololo ceremonial ground. The participants competed in the 21-kilometer and ten-kilometer categories. The first bunch of runners were out at exactly 7:00 am. It returned after an hour.
Various companies and organizations financially facilitated the Run. Individual participants had to pay 20,000 shillings each.
From previous editions, up to 15,000 pupils in the districts of Kampala, Soroti, Kisoro, and Otuke benefited as 60 classroom blocks were renovated, and 13 primary schools had their sanitation improved.
From the run, in the men’s category, Sam Wamuno won the 21-kilometer race. Meanwhile, Latif Kisamba won the 10 kilometers in the men’s category, whereas Doreen Agaba won for the women.
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