African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region IV ministers’ meeting   |12 May 2023

LUCAS GEORGES … Elected as repertoire on AUSC region IV secretariat

Lucas Georges elected as repertoire on AUSC region IV secretariat

Principal sports officer within the National Sports Council Lucas Georges now sits on the executive committee of the African Union Sport Council for region four, following his election into the post of repertoire, during the council’s recently-held executive committee of experts, along with the ministers’ meeting in Arusha, Tanzania from May 2-4, 2023.

A repertoire is comparable to a second vice-chairman and is responsible for the oversight of the secretary's reports.

Bernard Patrick Ogwel was elected into the post of chairman, while Ali Hassan Achir is the new vice-chairman.

The African Union Sports Council (AUSC) is a specialised technical office of the African Union responsible for sports. 

It was set up through the endorsement of the Statute of AUSC by the Assembly of African Heads of States and Governments in 2016.

Its mandate is co-ordination of the African Sports Movement and being a forum for concerted action between member states for the promotion and development of sports and development through sport in Africa.

Seychelles forms part of region four, along with Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Mauritius, Madagascar and the Comoros.

Mr George, who was also representing the Minister for Youth, Sports and Family Marie-Celine Zialor at the meeting, said his election was purely based on the loads of experience gained over more than 20 years working both on and outside of the continent, including his post as the candidate of Africa at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) management committee, in which he was elected during the Confédération Africaine de Cyclisme (CAC) elective congress, held in Cairo, Egypt in 2021.

Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel was voted into the post of chairperson, while Ali Hassan is the vice-chairman.

Mr Georges explained that his post will also place the country’s sports minister on the top shelf of the AUSC.

“Being able to feature among African ministers from the region, and giving out presentations is a huge achievement for me, giving me a huge sense of accomplishment, knowing that my ability is valued at such level,” noted Mr Georges who added that whatever he achieved is the work of God, while he is just an instrument for the purpose.

It was also unanimously voted for Tanzania to host the African AUSC region 4 secretariat headquarters.

The AUSC is composed of African Union member states, the African Union Sport Development Regions, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Abnoca), the Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC), and other continental sports bodies recognized by AUSC.

Among its mandate is to service the policy development needs of the AU in so far as sports matters are concerned, to promote sport as a fundamental human right to be enjoyed by all, to promote and defend sport development and development through sport, to grant membership of the African Union Sports Council subject to approval by the STC on youth, culture and sports; to ensure that member states fund sport development; to ensure that member states develop sports policies, programmes, systems and structures; facilitate the development of relevant sport structures in member states and the alignment of national sport policies and strategies to the AU sport policy framework and other continental sport policies to achieve harmonisation and coordination of sports development; and also to facilitate sport development on the African continent in terms of skills development, social interaction, and communication of relevant information on programmes in combating HIV and Aids and anti-doping programmes, as well as to promote person-to-person development programmes.

Compiled by Roland Duval