President of the Zambia Judo Association (ZJA) Mr. Alfred Foloko said in an interview in Lusaka that the tournament was aimed at promoting peace and unity in the African continent..
Mr.Foloko said the idea of the Peace Championship was initiated by the International Judo Federation (IJF) and African Judo Union (AJU).
According to him “We are expecting all the countries in Africa to take part in the championship. The main aim of this is to help countries which have been struggling to promote peace.
Mr.Foloko added “We hope through this tournament, some countries will get to reunite and
continue staying in harmony like brothers and sisters,” .

He said the event would however be staged after the completion of a multi-million dollar judo centre, which will be constructed at Lusaka’s Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC).
The judo federation chief said the OYDC management and IJF had signed a contract, which will
see a German company constructing the judo centre.
Judo for Peace Commission director Mr. Jan Erik Sychiotz was recently in the Southern African country to sign an agreement with the OYDC.
The countries expected to feature in the championship include Angola, Algeria, Botswana, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Others are Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, hosts Zambia and Zimbabwe.