MTN Kampala Marathon 2013 Returns Under ‘Run for Water’ Theme

MTN Uganda has announced the tenth edition of the annual MTN Kampala Marathon, slated for Sunday November 24th, 2013, setting off from the Kololo Airstrip. Announcing the theme for this year, the MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer said, “This year all Ugandans are called upon to register and run for a noble cause under the theme aptly dubbed- ‘Run for Water’. Whether you register to run for fun, or for fitness, you have an opportunity to contribute positively to someone’s life. With just one drop, you can change someone’s life”.

Over the last 10 years, 100,000 entrants have participated in the company’s annual marathon and have raised close to 1 billion shillings to help people in less privileged communities. Collections from previous events have been used in a number of projects, in the early years towards the provision of Mama Bags to mothers in the Internally Displaced People’s camps in Gulu and most recently to different water and sanitation projects.

“This year, once again MTN has partnered with some key sponsors including; the Vision Group, Huawei, Rwenzori, Stanbic and last but not least, the Uganda Athletics Federation that has been a key partner since inception”, said Ernst Fonternel.

Participation in the MTN Kampala Marathon has been steadily growing in terms of participation numbers. People run in the marathon for a number of reasons; to fulfil a personal sense of achievement but also to contribute towards a worthy cause.

In 2011, MTN announced that the focus of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities from the Marathon proceeds for the next five years would be towards the provision of clean and safe water to different communities in Uganda. The Marathon raised Ushs 230 million towards the provision of clean and safe water to for the people of Amuria in 2011, in partnership with WaterAid as an implementing partner.

Amuria was selected as one of the most remote areas with a definite need for access to clean and safe water. Last year, all proceeds raised from the MTN Marathon of UShs 320 million went towards the provision of clean and safe water to the people of Bududa that were settled in Kiryandongo. Speaking at the press conference, MTN Uganda’s Chief Executive Officer-Mazen Mroué said, “At MTN, we have over the years dedicated ourselves to the cause of investing in the community and partnering with the Government of Uganda as development partners to ensure a sustainable contribution to improving the lives of our fellow Ugandans that may be less privileged. We have done this through many avenues, but one of my personal favourite is the MTN Kampala Marathon of which the 2013 edition will be the 10th year running”.

This year all proceeds from the MTN Marathon will go towards the provision of water for the people of Karamoja region in Kotido District. This will be achieved through an implementing partner, Water Aid Uganda that will be tasked with ensuring that the proceeds are well utilized in providing safe and clean water for the people of Karamoja. During the event, Water Aid applauded MTN Uganda and the people of Uganda for providing them the opportunity to be a part of a cause that will change the lives of Ugandans forever.

The Huawei Uganda MD, Radoslaw Kedzia said, “We highly appreciate MTN for creating such an excellent platform for all the responsible enterprises which operate in Uganda to participate and to share the opportunity to do something meaningful for the Ugandan people, giving back to the local communities”.

Sumin Namaganda the Rwenzori Bottling Company MD Communications Manager said, “Rwenzori Bottling Company is the leading bottled water manufacturer in Uganda and a sister business to Nile Breweries Limited which are subsidiaries of SABMiller PLC. Water and benefiting communities are two of the Group’s Ten Sustainable Development Priorities, and providing clean water to communities is one of our core Corporate Social Investments.

We commit to stronger partnerships with MTN Uganda and as always our goal remains to refresh all Ugandans with safe and pure mineral water”. Stanbic Bank has been a part of the MTN Marathon since its inception. We have consistently provided one of largest corporate entries with our staff from across the country participating. This year we reinforced the partnership by becoming a sponsor of the MTN Marathon. We are proud to be associated with an event which every year contributes to the upliftment of our society from providing mama kits to providing safe and clean water,” said Stanbic Bank Uganda, Head of Investment Banking Patrick Mweheire