Inter-Parliamentary Games: Peerless Mumo Seals Second Gold For Kenya
MOMBASA, Kenya- Makueni Woman Representative Rose Museo Mumo has proved a dominant force ever since Darts for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) was introduced into the East African Community (EAC) Inter-Parliamentary Games three years ago.
She has dazzled in the women’s category where she has proved peerless, winning gold in the 12th edition of the games in Juba, South Sudan and the 13th edition in Kigali, Rwanda last year.
Mumo has struck another gold at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa to seal a thrilling three-peat at the ongoing 14th edition of the games being held at the Coast.
Mumo faced the nervy final against her perennial opponent Laura Kanushu of Uganda, winning the cutthroat showdown 2-1.
“I feel great, I feel proud and I thank God for this mighty victory,” Mumo told Standard Sports amid wild celebrations.
“I have been a golden girl in this sport ever since the game was introduced. I’m happy that I was able to discover my hidden talent in this sport,” she underlined.
Mumo heaped praises on her rival Kanushu who has also kept the faith, but has always settled for silver in the three times they have met in the finals.
“She (Kanushu) is such a worthy opponent, actually I was abit scared to lose the gold at home today. This is because we are hosting the games at home and I didn’t want to settle for any other medal except gold. That’s why I kept my eyes on my Ugandan rival and used her weakness to beat her,” Mumo explained.
“Apart from Kanushu being my greatest rival on the court, we are also very good friends. She is actually my boss at an international PWDs forum where she is our Chairperson.”
Ahead of this year’s games, Mumo prepared well but mostly based her focus on mental strength, through meditation.
Mumo is grateful for the EAC Inter-Parliamentary Games Steering Committee for being thoughtful to introduce the special darts category into the regional sporting extravaganza.
“Through this sport, PWDs in parliament got avenue to express themselves. We are able to socialize freely with each other and our able bodied counterparts. I have grown great interest in this sport and now it has become my favourite past time,” she highlighted.
The victory in Mombasa has now motivated Mumo who now says her immediate focus is to start a prolific darts club for PWDs in Makueni County which she is representing in Parliament.
” I want PWDs in my area to be involved in the sport. If we can not run and play football then let’s do the talking by our hands,” she stated.
Mumo is also urging the Government to help in popularising the game in other corners of Kenya so as to demistify the notion that darts is only a sport meant for bars and clubs.
As the competition continues to heat up at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Mumo is hopeful that her male counterparts will be able to do better so Kenya can lift the team title in the discipline this year.
Other promising player in the tournament include Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi who won his preliminaries.
Selected collated results
PWDs Women’s Darts final
Rose Museo Mumo 2 1Janet Kanushu (Uganda)
Men’s football
Tanzania 1 1 Burundi
Uganda 6 0 Burundi
Volleyball women
Kenya 3. 0 Rwanda
Volleyball men
Kenya 3. 1 Uganda
Rwanda 3 1 Tanzania
Kenya 1 3 Tanzania
Kenya got walk over against South Sudan
