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I will build a house for Cheptegei & Chesang - Museveni

Now that is a real presidential handshake
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President Yoweri Museveni has pledged to build a house for gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei and Stella Chesang after their boisterous performance at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

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Cheptegei, 21, won two gold medals in the categories of 5,000m and 10,000m -- Chesang won a gold in the 10,000m.

The president pledged to build a house for each of the two gold medalists like he has "done for previous gold medalists".

Ugandan Commonwealth games medalists will been enrolled on the payroll, a promise the president made before they headed for the competitions in Gold Coast.

Gold medalist will start earning UGX5m, UGX3m for the silver medalists and UGX1m for the bronze medalist -- the athletes arrears will also be cleared.

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Mr. Museveni on Sunday urged athletes to avoid "alcohol and umalaya" saying attention should be paid on their health and nutrition after seeing "footballers kicking balls lazily".

The 73-year-old president took a swipe at "people have been writing that we are harvesting where we did not sow".

"Some people have been writing that we are harvesting where we did not sow. That these children are getting medals by miracle. That is not true. The last time Uganda did well in Commonwealth Games was in 1970 and that was the last time Uganda was stable...Peace affects sports. It is the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM). You must have realised that the Somali boy Cheptegei was running against was actually representing Canada. Mo Farah, though Somali, runs for Britain," he said.

Uganda managed to win 5 medals in all competitions with Mercyline Chelangat, Solomon Mutai and Juma Miiro.

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