The Sunday News
Senior Sports Reporter
NEWLY elected Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani has spoken on his elevation to the most powerful position in local cricket. The Bulawayo-based pharmacist takes over from Harare lawyer Wilson Manase who had held the position on an interim basis following the resignation of long serving chairman Peter Chingoka last year. Mukuhlani is not new in cricket circles, having been part of the ZC board from 2003 through to 2011 and went high as being vice-chairman to Chingoka.
Mukuhlani (TM) took time to field questions from Sunday News senior sports reporter Mehluli Sibanda (MS). Below is the full interview.
MS: Having previously been part of the ZC board, what do you have to offer the game this time around?
TM: I have been on the ZC board for eight years, five of those as the vice-chairman. I have also been a provincial chairman. I would think it is that experience that the electorate want me to give back to ZC.
MS: When did you make the decision that you were going for the chairmanship?
TM: I made the decision when the board met at its first board meeting on Thursday, after the AGM. Prior to that there was no vacancy.
MS: What happened in 2011 when you lost your place on the board?
TM: I never lost my place on the board. I just did not seek nomination, I did not submit my papers to the nomination court.
MS: ZC have huge debts believed to be close to $30 million, now what are you and the rest of the board going to do to make sure that the debt is managed and reduced?
TM: The debt is not $30 million. It is far less than that. All the previous boards have been servicing the debt and we will continue on that path. Where re-negotiation is needed, we will do so.
MS: What is your goal as ZC chairman in the next four years?
TM: It is not about my goals because I am guided by the basic principle of cricket first, which together as a board and provinces we will work to achieve.
MS: What is your relationship like with people like Ozias Bvute, Peter Chingoka and Wilson Manase?
TM: We worked well together on the board. I have a lot of respect for them and all the other people I have served with on the previous boards.
MS: What have you learnt from Chingoka and Manase’s leadership and what mistakes did they make which you would want to avoid during your tenure?
TM: They never made mistakes as individuals. They implemented board decisions and everyone is collectively bound by those decisions and actions taken. So together we must share the successes and, when they do occur, the failures as well.
MS: Are you going to review the eight-year broadcasting deal with TSM or will you continue with it?
TM: There is a new board running ZC. The organisation is dynamic and also operating in an environment that does not stay the same all the time. As we have our meetings going forward , decisions will be made by the board as a whole on how best to continue running ZC, which decisions will include continuing with, some of the things we have inherited, reviewing others and after those reviews either amending or terminating them, and TSM will be treated as such. It is not my responsibility alone. It is the responsibility of the board that I have been mandated to lead.
MS: You are based in Bulawayo and most if not all cricket is played in Harare. What are you going to do to make sure international cricket comes to Bulawayo?
TM: International Cricket will come to Bulawayo but, as you rightly stated earlier on that ZC has a huge debt, restricting matches to Harare is a cost-cutting measure as well.
MS: Who is Tavengwa Mukuhlani outside cricket, you are famously called Doc are you a medical doctor?
TM: No, I am not a medical doctor. The affectionate term “Doc” dates back to my university days. I am a pharmacist.
MS: Are you going to relocate to Harare or you think you can be effective from Bulawayo?
TM: I am a Bulawayo resident. I do not see how that compromises my effective delivery as ZC chairman. You will appreciate that the world is now called a global village because of advances in information communication technology. But I will not even be running world cricket. I am just running Zimbabwe cricket from a Zimbabwean city that is not the capital.
