By Isaac Akugizibwe

Friday, April 4, 2025, will go down in KIU folklore as the first time, outside of graduation ceremonies, that the Main Campus in Kansanga and the Western Campus came together for a sporting extravaganza dubbed the Intercampus Sports Gala 2025.

The weather was bright all day surprisingly so for the rainy season prompting some to joke that the university had somehow conspired with nature. Students and staff turned out in large numbers and high spirits, and the games lived up to the hype and spectacle.

As he hit the volleyball to officially open the event, the day’s guest of honour, Prof. Muhammad Ngoma, Vice Chancellor of KIU, wished everyone the best of the games. There were no reports of disappointment, only cheers, amazement and fulfilment as the day closed with an enormous display of martial arts by the university’s evergreen karate team.

From volleyball, netball, football, and basketball to chess and tug-of-war, student and staff athletes thrilled the crowd with a sporting spectacle reminiscent of an Olympic championship.

In his closing remarks, the vice chancellor declared everyone a winner and promised, “Next year we are going to Western Campus.”

“Indeed, all of us were winners,’’ said Shakiro Illuku, the university’s dean of student affairs, who emphasized that the games helped the administration discover untapped sporting talent at KIU.

“We realized that we have so many highly skilled students, especially at the Western Campus, where different teams have been training without coaches  unlike here in Kampala, where each game has a coach,’’ she said.

“Going forward, we intend to add all the top talents from the Western Campus into the respective disciplines that represent the university in different competitions. We hope this will strengthen our teams and for that matter, other universities should be aware in the forthcoming competitions,’’ she added.

According to Annet Kabasindi, the sports tutor at KIU Main Campus, the intercampus sports day reinvigorated unity among staff members something that inspired her to begin thinking of starting a health club at the university.

“I was impressed by the fun the administration showcased the happiness and support that united us, the teaching staff and non-teaching, as well as different colleges coming together. From that day, unity has increased among the staff members,’’ she said.

“The games and most importantly, the attitude of the staff members made me realize that we need to start a health club at KIU,’’ she added.

Kabasindi also confirmed that as a result of the magnificent display during the Intercampus sports day, the University has begun making a follow-up to ensure the best athletes join respective university teams ahead of this year’s National University games in December.

For Western Campus sports tutor Sharon Achan, nothing was “more impressive than seeing the two campuses uniting and competing in various disciplines something that had never happened before.”

“I learned that together we can form a powerful team because, in the competition, we were able to identify talented students at Western Campus who can be a very good addition to our teams,” she said.

Despite the Main Campus teams dominating in all games except football and chess, both students and staff from both campuses gave their best, leaving everyone who attended convinced that it was, indeed, a beautiful day.