Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema, Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE Cricket president Tavengwa Mukuhlani has broken his silence, defending his administration and lashing out at critics as tensions with Bulawayo mayor David Coltart spill into a public war of words.
Facing mounting pressure over the Chevrons’ slide on the international stage, Mukuhlani used a Press conference yesterday to push back against accusations of racism, tribalism and nepotism, allegations now before the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).
This year alone, Zimbabwe have suffered heavy defeats to Afghanistan, England, South Africa and New Zealand, three of them innings losses. Frustration among supporters has been amplified by a petition from US based lawyer and data analyst
Paidamwoyo Madondo, calling for a commission of inquiry into ZC’s selection policies across senior, women’s and Under-19 teams.
Mukuhlani reserved his sharpest words for Coltart.
“I believe that patriotism is not defined by criticising those you don’t agree with,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that his definition of patriotism is the amount of criticism he gives for what he believes is not right.
I believe he’s a cricket fan, which is good, and I respect all cricket fans. However, I have a problem when one misleads, and I believe he misleads. I’m the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket not because the system wanted me here. I fought racism to get here.
So to turn around and call an entire institution racist is a problem. Zimbabwe Cricket is not.”
He rejected suggestions that ZC operates along racial or regional lines.
“In 2015 we brought back Kyle Jarvis and Brendan Taylor from County Cricket and matched their salaries. We did the same with Gary Ballance and Dave Houghton. They are not black.
We asked Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya and Chamu Chibhabha to retire, they are black. There is no race card in Zimbabwe Cricket. When you post that there is racism or tribalism, that is misinformation we dislike,” he said.
The ZC boss accused Coltart of presenting himself as the authority on selection, coaching, infrastructure and development, and of undermining the board’s credibility.
Coltart, in a statement responding to ZC’s earlier press release titled “ZC Condemns Coltart’s Smear Campaign”, dismissed the allegations against him.
“The remarkable backlash from Zimbabwean cricket supporters against ZC’s statement suggests Zimbabweans are not fooled,” he said. “The criticism I and others have made is not a smear campaign but the genuine concerns of many supporters from all walks of life.
It is a shockingly mendacious document which distorts the truth and reduces an important national discourse to an ad hominem racist attack. ZC have used a cheap shot to deflect debate about the deep rooted rot in cricket administration, and the public has seen through it.”
With positions hardening, the matter is now on the SRC’s desk. Director general Elta Nengomasha confirmed that an inquiry is underway to “establish the root cause of the allegations”.
“When the SRC is doing an investigation, it follows the internal processes of the commission,” she said. “We are doing this inquiry ensuring everything is done without undue process and in the interest of the nation.
At the moment we are inundated with the ZC issue and will provide the findings once it is done.”
