Hosting a successful 2016 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) tournament and winning the trophy top the list of priorities of the new Sports and Culture Minister Juliene Uwacu.

The first woman to head the ministry, Uwacu spoke at her swearing-in ceremony at parliament on March 6, which was presided over by President Paul Kagame.

Uwacu, who replaced Joseph Habineza, pledged to serve the interest of citizens equally.

“Our main target is to prepare and host a successful 2016 Chan final and work hard in ensuring that we will not only be good hosts but also win the title,” she said. “In the previous tournaments hosted here in 2009 and 2011 we didn’t manage to win the title but this time round we have to be prepared to battle for the continental title.

“We will need to double our efforts if we are to achieve this target. We are going to work hand in hand with all stakeholders to ensure that we prepare thoroughly on all fronts so that Africa will enjoy being in Rwanda for the entire Chan tournament.

“Stadiums are being renovated and nothing will stall because I believe in team work. I am not here to make any changes but to foster what has been done and achieve more.”

READ: Rwanda: Chan stadium works on course

The minister added: “Mistakes have been made but let’s put that behind us, especially regarding our national team which was banned for fielding ineligible foreign players.

“We have young players with potential; it’s time they were given a chance to show the world what Rwanda has.”

Renovation of four main stadiums which will stage Chan has begun.

“We plan to beef up the national team with many warm-up games,” Uwacu said. ‘‘We want to find the best approach to building a solid national team which will be able to challenge for and ensure the trophy stays in Rwanda.”

Qualities of the head coach

Elsewhere, the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has come up with a four-man shortlist for the vacant position of national head coach.

The finalists, who were selected from a list of 41 coaches, include Northern Irishman Johnny McKinstry, Hans Michael Weiss of Germany, Turkish coach Engin Fyrat and Jose Manuel Ferreira de Morais (Portugal).

“We picked the four coaches based on the kind of qualities of the head coach that we needed,” said Ferwafa secretary-general Olivier Mulindahabi. “We hope to be able to name the next Amavubi coach in the coming days so that he can kick off his work by preparing for the friendly match against Zambia that is due on March 29.”

Rwanda is looking for a successor to Englishman Stephen Constantine, who quit in January to coach India.

READ: Hunt for Amavubi Stars tactician on

The next Amavubi Stars coach will have a tough assignment.

Besides being expected to take Rwanda to Chan finals, Afcon qualifiers and the qualification for the World Cup, he will prepare the Under-23 side for the first round tie with Somalia in the Rio de Janeiro Games qualifiers that commence on the weekend of April 24-25 in Kigali and the return leg on May 8-9.

Ferwafa hopes the March 29 Fifa international friendly match against Zambia at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka will be a good platform to prepare the team ahead of the Chan.

Jerome Dufourg, the new head of marketing and communication at Ferwafa, said in a statement last Tuesday that the federation wants to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Amavubi are fit to compete.