Rob Walker, the man who chose the positive side of Uganda

“And what an adulterated joy this win will trigger back home in Uganda. One of the friendliest, most beautiful countries you could ever wish to visit,” beamed a powerful voice behind the microphone during the medal presentation of the female steeplechase medallists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

That August 4, 2021 afternoon medal will go down in history as one of the most surprising performances for Uganda at the Olympic Games as Peruth Chemutai became the first Ugandan woman to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport breaking the national record with a time of 9:01.45.

The unlikely voice was of British TV presenter, reporter, commentator and MC Rob Walker, whose adoration for Uganda is undoubted.

When he started his 11-day official visit to promote sports tourism in Uganda on the invitation of the Uganda Tourism Board, Walker was excited.

Walker, who has a TV career spanning more than 20 years that include commentating at seven summer and Winter Olympic Games and five summer and Winter Paralympic Games, has had memorable moments with the Ugandan fans.

Although he is renowned for athletics among Ugandan audiences, he works on triathlon, snooker, darts, rugby and boxing.

As Uganda attempts to build a strong sports tourism brand taking advantage of World Champion Joshua Cheptegei and World Half Marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo, Walker is in Uganda to awaken the giant.

Special

Walker, a humorous and upbeat presenter, who always strikes a chord with both crowds and TV audiences, fell in love with Uganda’s Nile Special beer during his previous visits and has been keenly following Uganda’s athletics modest beginnings.

Citing a British saying, "mighty oaks from little acorns grow," he said something great is happening in Uganda but it takes time. He said Uganda is at a time of joining the great rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia.

During a brief but powerful speech at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday, Walker said his first interaction with African distance runners was in 2003 but made his first trip to Uganda in 2005.

He said that Boniface Kiprop, attracted him to Uganda explaining that he is a very good ambassador. He said Moses Kipsiro, who followed later, was a great athlete.

“Kipsiro was able to win medals for the country. Really, who can forget his tremendous double at the Commonwealth Games, a double that was replicated by Joshua and Jacob in spectacular fashion last summer!” Walker said.

The most memorable moment for him though was during the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, which is actually the last time he travelled to Uganda, when Cheptegei stormed to the front trying to beat the indefatigable Geoffrey Kamworor fired up by the noise of the home fans but collapsed in the closing distance.

“He learned valuable lessons then and went to London for the World Championships later that summer and won silver behind Mo Farah and that is how his great journey began,” Walker said.

A former county champion at cross country and 1,500m, in 2005 Walker is one of the World Athletics’ lead international TV commentators on every Athletics world championship since 2007.

In 2018 he was asked to become an Ambassador for Disability Snooker but he has a passion for Africa and is a believer in opportunity for all.

Eventful stay

Lilly Ajarova, the chief executive officer Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) said that bringing Walker to Uganda is aimed at his appreciation of the country's beauty.

"Sports and tourism are complimentary. There are some tourism activities that are actually sports such as hiking, climbing, walking, horse riding, and cycling, among others. But having Walker come here is a testament of how we want to position Uganda. We want to position Uganda as a destination that can host sports events. We have done that before and we want to enhance it to encourage more people to come to Uganda for these events. In turn they can visit the rest of the beauty Uganda has to offer," Ajarova said," Ajarova said.

Walker will tour the source of the River Nile, the mighty Murchison Falls and to Bwindi for the Mountain Gorillas tracking.

Sports minister Peter Ogwang asked the organisers to allow Walker tour the high Altitude Training Centre in Kapchorwa, where Uganda's champions are made.

Walker will hold a masterclass with sports journalists at Mestil Hotel and later a symposium with students at Makerere University Business School (Mubs).