Kenyan rugby trio set for officiating duty in Lesotho

Peris Mukoko, Michael Mwanja and Beryl Akinyi have all been appointed to serve this weekend at the 2022 Rugby Africa Regional South Tournament that is set to take place on the 29th and 30th January 2022 in Lesotho.

Due to their experience in their respective categories, the three have been acquired by African rugby governing body Rugby Afrique to help with the duties at the tournament.

Mukoko, who is a World Rugby Accredited Match Officials Educator, will be on duty as a Coach of Match Officials during the tournament.

“My role at the tournament will be coaching of match officials, working closely with Mudiwa Mundawarara, the Rugby Africa Referee Manager, in overseeing the continuous development of the upcoming match officials during the two-day event,” she is quoted on KRU’s website.

“Prior to that, we will have a workshop/clinic with the match officials and the Lesotho Referees Society on Friday where we will go through the overall Rugby Africa tournament manual guidelines, World Rugby Laws & the 7s variations in preparation for the tournament.”

Mwanja, who works as KRU’s Fixtures and Competitions Administrator, is a World Rugby Accredited Match Commissioner and will be on duty at the tournament in that capacity.

The Match Commissioner is a senior official at the match venue responsible for matters related to the playing enclosure, the conduct of the match and the elements related to teams in the organization of each match.

“It is a privilege and an honour to be appointed as the Match Commissioner by Rugby Africa. When you work hard repeatedly, you will eventually get rewarded and having spent so many hours managing KRU’s leagues and tournaments, it will be a huge honour to serve for Rugby Africa at Maseru in Lesotho. I would want to take my experience international and this is a great start,” Mwanja delighted.

Akinyi, a World Rugby Accredited Level Two match official, who has officiated in five Rugby Africa tournaments over the last few years will serve in the same capacity when the tournament gets underway.

“It is always an honour and a privilege to get appointed for any Rugby Africa Tournament. It is a good platform for us(Kenyans) to showcase our standards of officiating, and also I get to share what I have learnt with my fellow match officials back home,” said Beryl.

The Seven’s Regional tournament South Group features four Men’s teams (Mauritius, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho) and five women’s teams (Mauritius, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe).

The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the Africa Men’s and Women’s Sevens which will in turn serve as qualifiers to both the Sevens World Cup and Commonwealth Games. From the South Regional Sevens tournament, 2 men and 1 women teams will qualify for Africa Men & Africa Women Sevens tournaments respectively.

Additional reporting by Kenya Rugby Union