Robert Mugabe: Henry Olonga takes ‘no pleasure’ from ex-president’s death

Posted November 21, 2019

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Zimbabwe’s first black Test cricketer Henry Olonga, who was forced to flee the country after protesting against Robert Mugabe, says he takes”no pleasure” from the ex-president’s departure.
Mugabe died aged 95 on Friday.
He was ousted through a coup in 2017 decades of savage repression and economic ruin.
“People have been saying perhaps I’ll have a drink as a toast, however I receive no joy from his passing,” Olonga said.
“In fact, it makes me incredibly sad, because he might have represented, he failed to scale the heights of somebody like Nelson Mandela. He became a megalomaniac, a power-hungry tyrant, a dictator and a man who subjugated his own people while purporting to be representing them”
Wore a black armband at the 2003 Cricket World Cup, which has been hosted by Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa in service of a pro-democracy demonstration in Harare.
He was connected by captain Andy Flower, and the pair issued an announcement to journalists in the Harare Sports Club in which they denounced the”death of democracy” in their homeland.
The activity made headlines across the globe – and effectively ended their international careers.
Olonga was exiled from his homeland and faced death threats, never playing for Zimbabwe again and visiting England.
In his early presidency Mugabe was commended for broadening access to health and education for the black majority, but later years were marked by violent repression of their political opponents and the economic ruin of Zimbabwe.
Olonga, the nation’s first black cricketer, said he is equipped to”give credit where it’s due”.
“He was crucial in helping Zimbabwe achieve its independence and liberty,” Olonga, 43, told PA news bureau.
“He ensured that black folks who didn’t possess it at the 1960s and 1970s could be able to vote, although of course even the very early elections that the individual Zimbabwe had were marred with alleged incidents of voter intimidation and violence.
“He had been one of the liberation war heroes and that won’t ever be taken away from him. But unfortunately the legacy of the guy is that he’ll be remembered as a barbarous tyrant and dictator.”
In 2013, to get a special BBC 5 Live programme aired 10 years after the famous black armband protest, former England head coach Flower said a farming friend affected by Mugabe’s land reforms said it had been his”moral duty not to really move about his business as normal throughout the World Cup”, which changed his own opinion of Zimbabwe.
Flower knew the odds of engaging the whole team in a protest were remote, so he decided to approach Olonga.
“I believed Henry could grab the concept and also have the courage of his convictions to take a stand,” additional Flower.
“I also thought the simple fact it would be just one white Zimbabwean and one black one operating together gave the concept the most eloquent equilibrium ”
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