Zambia Represented at the Berlin Half Marathon
The Ambassador of Zambia praises Frank Katebe for making Zambia known to the public
April 08th, 2019Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Amb. Anthony Mukwita, saw Frank Katebe’s participation in the 2019 Berlin Half Marathon on 7th April 2019 as a great way to make Zambia a more familiar country to the general public and to possible investors.
The Berlin Half Marathon of 2019, covering 21 kilometres, took place on Sunday 7th of April. Among the thousands of participants was German-based Frank Katebe. H.E. Amb. Anthony Mukwita said Katebe’s participation contributed to the efforts needed to make Zambia visible at every given opportunity. According to him, international events, such as the Berlin Half Marathon, are excellent opportunities to raise Zambia’s flag.
“When we represent Zambia at such international events, the name becomes familiar with would-be tourists, with would-be investors and prospective employers such as the United Nations and other international business houses”, said H.E. Amb. Anthony Mukwita.
The Zambian Ambassador said Katebe’s participation was a reiteration of President Edgar Lungu’s call on all Zambians, wherever they may be, to remember that they were all Ambassadors of their country. He said they were therefore expected to seize every possible opportunity to make their country visible.
Katebe, who was accompanied by some members of the diplomatic staff from the Zambian embassy, ran under the theme of “Let’s help Mozambique” in effort to bring attention to the plight of the victims of the Idai Cyclone that left hundreds of people dead and caused damages that are estimated to cost millions of dollars. Zambia has responded to the need in Mozambique by sending medical supplies.
Last year, a Zambian female participant, Maya Mwanawasa ran in the BMW-sponsored Berlin marathon. Both Katebe and Mwanawasa are not professional athletes but participated out of personal interest.
For the 2019 half marathon, the finish line was at the Brandenburg Gate, which once served as a dividing line between West and East Germany. It was here that the former US President Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987 made a speech with the famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years later in December 1989, the gate was opened.
As marathon participants came through the gate, the wild cheers were reminiscent of 30 years ago in November 1989 when hundreds of thousands of people gathered to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.