On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, the Ambassador of Japan to Burundi His Excellency Mr. Masahiro IMAI and the Director General of Youth, Sports and Culture Mr. Samuel NIYUBAHWE, proceeded to the inauguration of the Dojo karate room of the Burundian Karate Federation “FEBUKA”.
This room is located in the Kiyange district, Zone Buterere, Commune Ntahangwa in the Town Hall of Bujumbura, and was built, thanks to a donation of the amount of 90.22 USD which had been signed on September 10, 2019 in Bujumbura between the Embassy of Japan in Burundi and the Burundian Karate Federation “FEBUKA”. The purpose of this donation was to ensure the implementation of the activities of the construction of the sports hall of the Karate Dojo and the construction of a sanitary block.
The President of the Burundian Karate Federation Mr. Christophe NKURUNZIZA and the Advisor in charge of Social and Cultural Affairs in the Office of the Mayor of the city of Bujumbura Mr. Christophe KINSHASA, all thanked the Government of Japan through the Embassy of Japan in Burundi to have financed the construction project of this Dojo.
The President of the Burundian Karate Federation Mr. Christophe NKURUNZIZA recalled that the Karate Federation has 3326 practitioners in 66 clubs and the national team has occupied the 1st place in regional competitions (Zone 5) since 2007 and in the games of the East African community with silver and bronze medals at the African Youth Games of Algiers 2018, 3rd place in kata 2 times and 3 athletes ranked 5th in the Continental Ranking in Yaoundé 2017; 11th place out of 158 countries participating in the world championship and with two certificates in refereeing and coaching.
According to Mr. Christophe NKURUNZIZA, the construction of the Karate room will allow them to continue their project to make this land a karate development center in Burundi and in the East African Community. The first center will facilitate the development of practice and the development of staff throughout the country through internships and various bodies.
In his speech, the Japanese Ambassador to Burundi His Excellency Mr. Masahiro IMAI said that Japan and Burundi have established solid bilateral relations, which are beautiful and well symbolized by several projects carried out including the development of the Port of Bujumbura.
Mr. Samuel NIYUBAHWE, Director General of Youth, Sports and Culture who represented the Government of Burundi thanked the Government of Japan for its involvement in the success of this construction project of the Karate Dojo room in favor of the Burundian youth. The Government of Burundi recognizes the efforts that Japan has never ceased to provide so that Burundi benefits from this donation in Dojo.
As part of the sustainability of this project, he hoped that Japan would also take the lead in building the capacity of Burundian coaches in order to facilitate the detection of young talents in Karate throughout the country. He also expressed the wish to develop this place well so that it can be a regional center of influence to serve other young Karatekas in the sub-region.
