Queen’s baton relay April 20

The Malawi edition of the Queen’s baton relay is set for April 20, Malawi Olympic Committee (Moc) has announced.

The relay comes ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games scheduled for the Australian City of Gold Coast.

Moc Administration Manager, Naomi Chinatu, said the government officials will receive the baton at the Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe before taking it to the Civic Centre.

Msambeta LEA School in Lilongwe will be its next destination, followed by a reception hosted by the British High Commission.

The baton will then be taken to Salima on April 21 for sporting and cultural activities at Livingstonia Beach Hotel and Mua Cultural Heritage Centre in Dedza.

The baton will depart on April 24.

Chinatu said Moc decided to take the baton to Salima in line with the Games’ theme- ‘Share the Dream’.

“We want to share the dream with Salima-based athletes and surrounding communities. The baton has never gone to any place outside Lilongwe. It is our hope that we will identify hidden talent through this exercise,” Chinatu said.

She said the relay is also open to the corporate world whose banners, fliers and leaflets will be displayed between Lilongwe and Salima.

The baton relay has been a traditional curtain-raiser to the Commonwealth Games since the Cardiff-Wales 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

It carries a message to Commonwealth athletes from Queen Elizabeth II, who heads the grouping of largely former British colonies and protectorates.

The baton is taken to all member states from the Queen’s Buckingham Palace to the opening ceremony. A message is then retrieved from the baton and read out by the Queen herself or her representative.