Rwanda will, this month, receive the Queens Baton ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. In what is dubbed as The Baton Relay, the Queens Baton is being taken to different destinations around the world, as part of the Commonwealth Games traditions. It is expected to reach Rwanda between the 9th and 12th of this month, making it the tenth destination after Uganda. This is the third time for Rwanda to receive the Baton since 2014. The Baton will be taken to the Kigali Genocide Memorial and Campaign against Genocide Museum, Nyandungu Urban Wetland Ecotourism Park, Lycée de Kigali, Gahanga Cricket Stadium and Kigali City. It will be carried by the captains of national teams and it will be an opportunity to showcase untold stories from Batonbearers, athletes, and young people who are striving for change in their community. “I am absolutely delighted to see the Queen’s Baton in Rwanda ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next year, said Omar Daair, the British High Commissioner to Rwanda. The unity that this relay represents brings together communities across the globe. Inclusion is at the heart of these Games, as Birmingham 2022 will have the biggest ever sports programme, with the largest integrated Para Sport programme in history, he added. The Relay is also looked at as something that underlines the shared Commonwealth values ahead of Rwanda hosting CHOGM in 2022. The Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay started at the Buckingham Palace on 7 October 2021, when Her Majesty The Queen placed Her Message to the Commonwealth into the Baton, which will be read at the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on July 28 next year. “We are delighted and honoured to receive the Queen’s Baton for the third time in Rwanda. Receiving the Queen’s Baton during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic has a significant meaning as it symbolises hope, solidarity, and collaboration across our Commonwealth countries, said Theogene UWAYO, President of Rwanda Commonwealth Games Association. He added: It is also another opportunity to encourage our athletes who will compete to be the ambassadors of peace, unity, sustainable development and environment protection in their communities.” The 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay is an epic journey covering the entirety of the Commonwealth as it will travel to all 72 nations and territories, covering a distance of 140,000 kilometres. For 269 days, the Baton will travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and the Americas, before it embarks on the final stretch of its journey across England for 25 days.
