Mark Muga Ouma (10 September 1960 – 10 July 2016) was a Ugandan-born Kenyan

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

journalist and philosophy academic. Born in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda, to Bernadette and Joseph Ouma (an academic), Mark Ouma grew up studying in his birthplace, Kenya, and also in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. He completed a bachelor's degree in philosophy at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

and went on to teach Advanced Logic at his alma mater in the 1980s. A Kenyan citizen, he taught there at

Egerton University Egerton University is a public university in Kenya. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Kenya. Location The main campus of the university is located in Njoro, a small community approximately , southwest of the town of Nakuru. Th ...

in the early 1990s.Aboutarchived
. AfricanAthletics. Retrieved on 2016-07-13. He chose to focus on his passion,

sports journalism Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the ...

, after 1995 and took up a position at the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

as an international correspondent. He joined the ''Daybreak Africa News'' team for

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, remaining in South Africa and serving as the sports editor there. A writer and a photographer, he increasingly focused more on athletics writing, becoming a regular correspondent from 1998 for the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

, the sport's governing body. He became one of Africa's foremost athletics journalists and frequently reported from the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organised ...

– the continent's biennial tournament. Freelancing, Ouma launched African Athletics, a website dedicated to athletics journalism for Africa. While reporting from the

2016 African Championships in Athletics The 20th African Championships in Athletics was held in Durban, South Africa from 22 to 26 June 2016. It was the second time that Durban and South Africa hosted this competition. 720 athletes from 43 African national federations participated. Meda ...

he took ill and died shortly after at King Edward VIII Hospital in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. Aleck Skhosana, chairman of

Athletics South Africa Athletics South Africa is the national governing body for the sport of athletics (including track and field, cross country, road running and racewalking) in South Africa, recognised by the IAAF, and also a member of Confederation of African Athle ...

paid tribute to Ouma's work: " ewill always be remembered as an advocate of African athletics and a professional in his work. I met Mark all over the world doing what he loved best, promoting African athletics."Falconer, Sean (2016-07-13)
Respected Athletics Journo Mark Ouma Dies
Modern Athlete. Retrieved on 2016-07-13.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouma, Mark 1960 births 2016 deaths People from Kampala Ugandan journalists Kenyan journalists Sport of athletics journalists Academic staff of Makerere University Makerere University alumni Voice of America people