Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE) can now legally operate without any worries. Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) gave the federation a certificate to operate legally as stipulated by law, this week.

Last December, the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC) suspended nine national sports federations including FERWADE that were operating without legal status.

The federation president Kevin Ganza (inset) told Saturday Sport that the federation has successfully renewed registration with RGB, in accordance with the Law governing the organization and functioning of non-governmental organisations.

He said: "We got confirmation on Monday that our certificate is ready, then we cleared the dues and I picked it Tuesday morning. We are very happy to be back on track after a long time of inactivity.

"We are soon going to publish our schedule of events and hit the ground running. It is likely that we’ll start as soon as October, so that we catch up on the lost time,” he added.

Following suspension last year, the federation had to cancel several activities including the National Chess Championship.

The inter-club championship also came to a sudden halt late last year after the first round of games and it is unclear how or whether it will be revived.

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