On 10 February 2003, ahead of Zimbabwe’s opening match against Namibia in the Cricket World Cup, duo Andy Flower and Henry Olonga walked onto the ground wearing black armbands to “mourn the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.”
While the nation geared up to host Zimbabwe’s maiden World Cup, the duo deemed the occasion as an opportunity to launch an unprecedented attack against the Robert Mugabe government.
As Zimbabwe ushers in a new era liberated from President Mugabe’s 37-year authoritarian reign, it is time to revisit the black armband protest that first demonstrated the human rights abuses inflicted by the regime on its citizens.
The peaceful outrage led by Olonga, the country’s first black cricketer, and Flower, Zimbabwe’s highly-rated player, was triggered by an array of forceful farm evictions carried out against white farm owners.
Flower and his comrade, Nigel Huff, had earlier visited a farm to ascertain the impact of the government’s land reform policies.
As stated in Crawford Young’s research titled, ‘The Postcolonial State in Africa: Fifty Years of Independence, 1960–2010’, the Zimbabwean government planned to redistribute 3,000 farms in 2002.
Almost 80 percent of the 4,500 farms had been forcibly siezed from white farm owners.
According to a The New York Times report, the government’s move sought to erase the vestiges of British colonialism, but the resultant cronyism and massive onslaught lead to the forceful seizure of land and arrests of white farmers under the pretext of encroachment.
Flower reportedly had “little hope” of dissenting voices emerging from the team that could challenge the powers of the government. Convinced by Olonga’s determination, Flower approached him.
The protest was planned at a news cafe in Harare, along with the founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change, David Coltart, who helped draft the 450-word statement and suggested the use of bands for protest.
Before taking to the field to underline their act of public denunciation, the duo issued a joint statement to the press at the Harare Sports Club, "mourning the death of democracy in Zimbabwe."
Both players admitted to their “disenchantment” with the state of affairs in strife-laden Zimbabwe, where “people have been murdered, raped, beaten and had their homes destroyed because of their beliefs.”
Their act of defiance meant single-handedly opposing the powerful patrons of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, writing their own doom with a solid blow to their international career and an aftermath ending in exile.
With the exception of Andy’s brother, Grant, no one had any clue of the silent protest until Flower walked in to bat in the 22nd over and Olonga was seen sporting the armband from the players' balcony.
Protest Hailed by the Media
Deemed to be the most courageous act in the history of cricket, the black armband protest was commemorated by BBC Radio 5 in a special live radio broadcast. Simon Barnes in the Times hailed the act as a "powerful blow for sanity, decency, and democracy.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Donald Trelford slammed the ICC and the ECB while lauding the players to further "shine out like diamonds in a pile of mud.”
English captain Nasser Hussain showered praise for the players who “proved to be great men by what they have done."
Despite receiving favourable coverage from international media, the duo faced the ire of Zimbabwe's cricket administrators and politicians.
Olonga and Flower Faced the Aftermath
Defying ICC warnings of a strict blackband no-show, Flower and Olonga stood up to their principles by wearing bands in their subsequent matches.
Post the cup, Flower quit international cricket and settled for a contract to play for Essex in England. But the aftermath spelt trouble for Olonga as he received death threats and was soon expelled by his club and labeled “Uncle Tom” who had “a black skin and a white mask” by Zimbabwe’s propaganda minister Jonathan Moyo.
Now settled in Adelaide with his Australian wife and two daughters, the former fast bowler turned public speaker and singer, told BBC in 2013:
Little things along the way can bring about change. If asked to do it again, I would not hesitate.
Olonga’s affirmation and Flower’s zeal created ripples in the nation and amplified voices against Mugabe’s reign that had wrecked immense political turmoil since the turn of the millennium. Bringing sports and politics together, the symbolic protest was a rare instance of sportspersons taking the moral high ground despite facing resistance from the country’s power corridors.
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