South Sudan asked to invest in sports following success of bright stars

The executive director for the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the transitional government to invest in sports to help mend the broken social fabric of the country.

“We are confident that our national basketball team will make surprises if they are adequately supported by the government. CEPO is urging the government to invest in various sports as a strategy of rebuilding the broken social fabric among the various communities,” said Edmund Yakani, the Executive director of CEPO in a statement issued over the weekend.

South Sudanese Bright stars have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a first in the young nations’ history. This comes after the basketball team easily defeated Angola in Manila on Saturday in their last game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, achieving the biggest win in the country’s basketball history.

Yakani said this performance by the national basketball team should prompt the government to increase budget for sports activities.

 “South Sudan is a great nation if it’s citizens exercise their potentials in various aspects of human growth and development. Our obstacle to achieve growth and development are our political leaders who are lacking political discipline and commitment for the best interest of the country,” he said.