The Herald
By Robson Shakuro
15 February 2013
DAVID Coltart’s name featured prominently, in a BBC Radio Five Live special, broadcast last week to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the day Andy Flower and Henry Olonga staged their black armband protest at Harare Sports Club during an ICC Cricket World Cup tie.
Alison Mitchell, the journalist who interviewed Flower at a countryside English hotel, and also talked to Olonga, told BBC Radio Five listeners across the world that the planning phase of the protest was done under a cloud of secrecy and Coltart was a key figure.
“They (Flower and Olonga) did not really involve many other people in this at all but David Coltart played an important role,†said Mitchell.
“He was a human rights lawyer at the time and known to both men, particularly to Olonga, and he was trusted, more importantly, he was a member of the opposition party in Zimbabwe, he actually sits in the coalition government now, as Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.
“At the time, Flower and Olonga, took him into their confidence because they needed someone who was well aware of the atrocities going on and who could advise them on a legal and security front and, in Flower’s words, would guide them away from extravagance and towards dignity.â€
In the wake of that programme, whose contents have provided quotes and flesh for thousands of stories that have featured in newspapers around the world, a number of key questions have emerged:
- Did Flower blow the lid off the central and shadowy role played by Coltart in the black armband protest he staged, alongside Olonga, ahead of the World Cup tie against Namibia 10 years ago?
- Does Flower expose Coltart as a member of the inner circle of the politics of Zimbabwe Cricket, from way back in 2003, who could hold secret meetings, in the study at his home with the national team’s top players, during the World Cup, to such an extent he could prepare political statements for them?
- If Coltart could hold secret meetings, with the captain of the Zimbabwe cricket team, without the knowledge of his employers, to organise such a sensitive move, are the ZC authorities justified in viewing the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture with suspicion in everything he touches?
- Does this explain the friction, and a lack of trust, that seemingly exists between Coltart and some ZC leaders who have been hit with travel restrictions, including a ban from entering England, for their alleged political affiliation?
- Did Flower’s revelations last week provide justification to concerns by Givemore Makoni, the ZC convenor of selectors, that Coltart could not be trusted as a neutral referee or player in issues to deal with Zimbabwe Cricket?
Flower, who is now the coach of the England cricket team, told Mitchell, that Coltart was a big part of their black armband protest.
“The meeting I remember most clearly was in David Coltart’s study, at his home, and we sat down and wrote the statement,†Flower said.
“When I say we sat down and wrote the statement, obviously, David Coltart was more eloquent that either Henry or I, and it was important that the language we used in the statement was the right sort of language to get our message across.
“So David, with the input from Henry and I, sort of wrote and edited the statement and I do believe it was David who came up with the idea of having a symbol.
“The black armband was traditionally a symbol of mourning or paying respect to someone, but in this instance it was mourning the death of democracy in our country, and we wanted that message to go to the media and to go out to those who might listen around the world; that democracy was dying in our country, and because of that, human rights abuses were occurring.â€
Until now, Flower, widely regarded as the greatest cricketer to emerge out of Zimbabwe, had never publicly spoken about the events leading to their black armband protest.
Duncan Fletcher, another former Zimbabwe captain who rose to coach England, revealed in his autobiography, Behind The Shades, that Flower and Olonga’s black armband protest was a grand political project that involved the participation of opposition politicians and activists.
Fletcher, who is now the coach of India, blew off the cover on the series of co-ordinated secret events, including how Flower and Olonga were smuggled into the England team hotel in Cape Town by Zimbabwean politicians, to discuss their plans for a protest against the Government.
“Before a decision was to be made we welcome two incredibly brave visitors, who came to speak to me and (Nasser) Hussan (then England captain),†wrote Fletcher, in his autobiography, about events that unfolded as the English pondered whether to come to Zimbabwe or boycott the match.
“They were Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, smuggled in by a member of Zimbabwe’s opposition party, the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), who had spoken to the whole team before taking me and Hussain into an adjacent room, where we met Flower and Olonga.
“They told us then of their plan to wear black armbands during their games in the tournament to mourn that (democracy). They even suggested that we might consider wearing black armbands if we decide to play in Harare.â€
Coltart confirms that he went to Cape Town, during that time, and spoke to the England team and, given his contacts with Flower and Olonga then and the project they were working on, he could well be the politician that Fletcher is referring to.
If Coltart had resorted, in Fletcher’s words, to smuggling Flower and Olonga into the England team hotel and addressing the England cricket players, who were torn apart between honouring or boycotting their game in Harare, all behind the back of ZC officials, maybe it explains why there is that bond of lack of trust between the two parties today.
Coltart says he never persuaded England to boycott their World Cup tie against Zimbabwe but, instead, urged them to come and fulfill the match.
They didn’t and have never played a match against Zimbabwe since. ZC officials say the absence of box-office home series, like a contest against England, has cost them approximately US$7 million, in projected earnings, every year and has played a big part in pushing their financial books into the red zone.
Coltart told BBC Radio Five Live that Flower and Olonga made a huge impact, in three different aspects, with their statement and black armband protest.
He said it drew the western countries’ focus attention from what was happening on the farms to “human rights abuses which were being perpetrated against black Zimbabweans.
“What that statement did was to draw attention to the wider human rights abuses in a manner that had never been done before.
“It attracted huge publicity.
“It achieved its purpose of demonstrating a peaceful protest which did not actually disrupt the World Cup but conveyed that powerful message.â€