The Herald

10 July 2010

By Alexander Kanengoni

John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister is not exactly our friend.

Considering that he was one of the people at the forefront of the global campaign to impose sanctions on the country and cripple our economy to achieve the regime change objective, all well-meaning Zimbabweans find it difficult not to dislike him.

Recently, he paid an unexpected visit to the country to canvass for support to be elected ICC vice president.

I don’t think we extracted much, if any political mileage at all from his unexpected visit.

Just as the visit by the Brazilian Samba Boys a week or so before him, his visit offered a huge opportunity for the country to use him to correct the negative perception of the country that he was instrumental in creating.

Instead of confining him to the five star Miekles and the leafy environs of the Harare Sports Club, we should have taken him on a tour around the country to see for himself the devastation that the sanctions that he prefers to call targeted are causing on ordinary people.

Of course all this would be before a tour of the Victoria Falls or Gonarezhou Safari resort to sample the true African beauty that these places offer.

Because he came through David Coltart, the Minister of Education, he should have been taken to visit an unfinished rural school because funding dried up in the middle of construction due to sanctions.

He should have been asked to talk to the poor pupils learning under a tree to discover their enthusiasm to learn; that they are just as eager for education as their Australian counterparts except that they happen to be Zimbabweans and black.

He should have been taken on a tour to a council clinic in Makokoba or Budiriro and see for himself the tragic situation there because the country is having difficulties in accessing the Global Fund to fight HIV and Aids because of the sanctions that people like himself advocated for on the dishonest pretext that they are targeted.

Because, just like the Brazilian soccer team, he had the entire global media focussed on him, we certainly would have extracted much political mileage.

That would also have helped to expose some misconceptions that he assisted the world to construct about the country.

We would have loved Howard to say something during the tour. Perhaps as Shakira said during her whirlwind visit to Gonarezhou, he might have said he would visit again when he had more time and in more relaxed circumstances, perhaps together with his family that time around.

The man was desperate for our vote.

How we would have loved it if he had spoken this before CNN, BBC, Sky News and all the other international news agencies!

As usual, those news agencies might have chosen to omit that or used the story with their usual twist to suit their anti-Zimbabwe stance but some other agency would have reported it correctly.

There is no doubt Howard would have done that because of the reason for his visit. He wanted us to support his bid to be elected vice president of the ICC.

The man was down on his knees.

He was at our mercy.

And all this would not necessarily translate into a vote to support his bid to become vice president of ICC in Singapore. Absolutely no!

I don’t know how David Coltart feels about it but we must at least credit him for bringing us Howard on a silver plate.

We could have done whatever we wished to with him but we didn’t take the chance! It might not have meant much but in this world where we are fighting tooth and nail against the machinations by the powerful and highly organised and well-funded Rhodesian lobby spawned all over the West, every little thing that we do counts.

Talking about the Rhodesian mentality, it’s amazing how it is still reflected in our midst. Nathaniel Manheru’s contribution in The Herald on Saturday last week went a long way to describe it in the private media. But I cannot help adding one more frightening example. Last Sunday’s issue of The Standard carried a cartoon about Brazil’s painful exit from the World Cup in South Africa. It depicted the Brazillian coach, Dunga telling a journalist: “My boys played well. But I think we were cursed by that country that we played friendly with.”

The question that immediately comes to one’s mind is whether the cartoonist is Zimbabwean or not. The love for one’s country cannot be imposed on any person. It is instinctive. In our culture, it’s like the love for one’s biological parents. No matter how much you might disagree with them, it’s unthinkable to disown them. In fact, it is impossible to disown them.

The cartoonist is literally disowning his country, that is if he is Zimbabwean. He makes reference to the country as if it’s another country that he happens to be making a glossing comment over.

If the cartoonist comes from this country, he is displaying a frightening Rhodesian mentality. The Rhodesians do not believe in Zimbabwe. If they had their way, they would bring back Rhodesia and they do not hide the fact.

While most people agree the visit by the Brazilian team, which was beamed live to more than 60 countries, helped tremendously to allay the perception that the country was lawless and chaotic, that nothing functioned any more, that the people were violent and unfriendly, the cartoonist tragically helps to perpetuate this misconception.

That is why it is difficult to believe he could be Zimbabwean because a Zimbabwean cannot condemn his country to that extent even if there may be many things that he does not agree with.

While the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, is pleading with the KPCS to grant the country a certificate to enable us to sell our diamonds and get the much needed money to kick-start the economic recovery efforts, some young Zimbabweans, representing Crisis International, are arguing we should not get the certificate purportedly in the interests of the Zimbabwean people. They were there on television a few weeks ago.

What interests of Zimbabweans can an NGO called Crisis International represent that the inclusive government is unable to do?

It eventually required government intervention to also suspend sales of diamonds from River Ranch and Murowa mines because the definition ‘blood’ diamonds had been inexplicably confined to mean only diamonds from Chiadzwa.

There is nowhere in the world where anyone has ever heard such shameless hypocrisy.

A long time ago when Nathaniel Manheru discontinued his column in The Herald on Saturday, I am one of those people who mourned his sudden exit because I wanted him to continue his political duels with The Independent’s Muckracker.

Well, he has returned and the debates are increasingly becoming so one-sided. Muckraker mirrors the dilemma of the so-called independent press in the country since the formation of the inclusive government.

The people are tired of being fed with messages of endless conflict and painful images of hopelessness, which continues to be the main recipe of the private media. People might have liked it during the height of our crisis, when there was no solution in sight.

The formation of the inclusive government has provided people with hope, the people love their country and want it to pull out of the crisis.

They want to read hopeful stories about themselves and the future of their country not gloom and predictions of a pending collapse; it’s as simple as that.

The British might disagree over their costly adventure in Afghanistan but that disagreement is never allowed to sway their total support for their men fighting there and their media reflects it.

If any of their papers dares to support the Taliban, there would be an uproar from the public.

It would be promptly accused of treason, even banned. That is what is called patriotism.

We had a completely different story when our men were fighting in the DRC several years ago. Some of our so-called independent papers behaved as if they were published and controlled in Kigali and we were supposed to view that as ‘freedom of the press.’

Now, that stance has come to haunt them in the current political dispensation. They have nowhere to hide their Rhodesian mentality.

They are unrepentant Rhodesians with men placed in strategic positions in almost all NGOs around the world to influence the West’s opinion on Zimbabwe because they still dream of getting back to what they consider ‘their’ farms.

The Zimbabwe Media Commission has licensed several papers to begin publishing.

If they come onto the streets and push the Rhodesian anti-Zimbabwe agenda that sold papers like The Daily News because they were hiding behind the MDC, they might just be in for a rude awakening.

Even if they give away the papers for free, they might still discover people want to read more hopeful messages about themselves and their country.

Because honestly, it will be difficult to convince anyone that Crisis International represents the interests of Zimbabweans more than the inclusive government does, as those poor fellows tried to tell us on television.

It will be even more difficult to convince anyone that Rio Tinto, a foreign company, can sell its diamonds because they are ‘clean’ whereas Mbada, an indigenious company, cannot because its diamonds are ‘blood’.

But because they have no shame, they will attempt to do just that.

We should not get completely surprised if former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, decides to pay us a surprise visit in the future for whatever reason.

Rather than hype on our past disagreements with him, we should think wisely on how to turn such a visit into a political advantage for the country.

As they say in football, we will live to rue John Howard’s visit that we allowed to go begging.

Chronicle

8 July 2010

By Makhosi Sibanda

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart has called for compulsory and free primary education in the new constitution.

Minister Coltart told Chronicle in a telephone interview that education was a basic human right and children needed to be afforded that right through the constitution.

“Free education for all children should be made a constitutional right in line with the international convention of children’s rights,” he said.

Minister Coltart said whilst most educational issues were not included in the constitution, but were contained in international convention of children’s rights, which Zimbabwe was signatory to.

“It states that every child should be compulsory and free education and as a ministry, we feel that should be enshrined in the constitution that we are working on,” he said.

Minister Coltart said the government should make a commitment to this guarantee though its reality was threatened by lack of resources.

“Constitutional rights apply equally to children and adults and we are saying that children should also be granted freedom of expression, access to information and other rights just like adults,” said Minister Coltart.

Minister Coltart said there was a need to balance these constitutional rights as they could prove detrimental to the very beneficiaries.

“We need to ensure that our children are not exposed to pornographic material, but should be afforded a conducive learning environment to enhance their academic growth,” he said.

Zimonline

8 July 2010

By Sebastian Nyamhangambiri

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s once vaunted public education sector remains in “catastrophic state” short of cash to revamp dilapidated schools or lure back experienced teaching staff, Education Minister David Coltart told ZimOnline on Wednesday.

A unity government formed by President Robert Mugabe and former opposition foes, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara promised on assuming office last year to restore basic services, public education and health topping the list.

Western governments and international donors have also stepped up humanitarian aid including support for schools since establishment of the power-sharing government in February 2009.

But Coltart said education remains in the doldrums. He said: ?“I am afraid to say it is over a year after setting up of the coalition government but nothing much has changed in the education sector. The sector is in catastrophic state. We are long way off the mark. It will take time to recover since we have no adequate funding.”

Coltart, whose efforts to try to revive education despite a largely non-existent budget are recognised by many Zimbabweans, was speaking in Harare at an occasion to receive computers and other equipment donated by the German government to the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council, in charge of public school examinations.

Zimbabwe’s education sector that was once revered as one of the best in Africa, is a shadow of its former self because of a severe economic crisis over the past decade that has seen government fail to pay market level salaries to teachers, maintain schools or provide learning materials such as chalks, textbooks and exercise books.

Teachers in Zimbabwe’s public schools earn an average US$236 monthly wage as the power-sharing government struggles to revive an economy battered by years of hyperinflation, lure back investors and pay its workers.

Many of Zimbabwe’s best trained teachers left the country a long time ago for foreign lands where salaries and living conditions are better.

The Harare government has said it requires US$10 billion to get Zimbabwe on its feet again.

But rich Western nations able to provide required grants and soft loans are reluctant to fund the administration directly insisting Harare must first step up the pace of democratic reforms, do more to uphold human rights and the rule of law before they give support.

Herald

8 July 2010

Herald Reporter

GOVERNMENT should allocate more funds to education in the national budget to resuscitate the sector, a Cabinet minister has said.

Speaking after the donation of information communication technology equipment to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council by Germany Technological Co-operation in Harare yesterday; Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart described the state of the education sector as “catastrophic”.

“There is need to capacitate Zimsec so that it attains the high standards enjoyed by other examination boards in the region.

“Government must strive to restore the credibility of the country’s examination system by channelling more funds towards education,” he said.

Minister Coltart said this would also help regain the trust of parents and children in the system.

He said 215 000 Ordinary level pupils and 27 000 Advanced level students had registered for this year’s November examinations.

This means 14 000 students registered after the June 11 deadline.

“There is steady progress compared to last year and Government will do everything possible to ensure that every single child eligible to sit for examinations does so.

“Deputy Minister Lazarus Dokora is busy working to ascertain the exact number of students who failed to register so that Government assists,” he said.

Turning to the donation worth US$80 000, Minister Coltart said it would go a long way in improving efficiency and stabilising operations at the examinations body.

The equipment includes 11 laptops, 10 desktop computers, printers and Internet accessories.

Zimsec director Mr Happy Ndanga said they would continue striving to provide quality services to the nation.

“We have been clamouring for such assistance for long because running national examinations requires a lot of input.

“Though we are criticised a lot, we are not going to be shaken in delivering what the nation requires,” he said.

Germany’s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Matthias Schumacher said his country would assist Zimbabwe revive education.

“Investment in education is investment in the future. We will continue supporting Zimbabwe as we have done in the past years through humanitarian aid,” he said.

Financial Gazette

8 July 2010

THE Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Stan Mudenge, is said to be seriously ill and recently suffered a heart failure. The Financial Gazette can reveal that the minister was admitted at the Avenues Clinic’s High Dependency Unit (HDU), in Harare for eight days after being diagnosed with cardiac failure and has not resumed duty.

He was discharged from the clinic on Saturday.

“Mudenge was admitted on June 25 at 11:01 hours after arriving in an ambulance under heavy security guard. He had suffered a cardiac failure and had to be quickly taken to the resuscitation room.

“After resuscitation, he was then taken to the HDU where he was admitted until last Saturday at 12:50hrs,” said the source at the clinic.

“Although he was discharged, it was evident that he still felt pain and I believe it will take time for him to get active in the office.”

Enquiries from his ministry confirmed Mudenge has not been in office for several weeks.
The minister’s failing health has seen students at institutions of higher learning calling on the inclusive government to consider resting Mudenge.

Tafadzwa Mugwadi, the president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union, said the unavailability of Mudenge was a cause for concern.

“He (Mudenge) has failed to attend to our plight because he is concentrating on his health issues and in the process he is underperforming in his ministry.

“We make a humble request to the government to consider resting the minister because they are overburdening him and it is not surprising that this burden could actually be contributing to his failing health.”

Student Solidarity Trust co-ordinator, Masimba Nyamanhindi, said Mudenge’s health impacted negatively on the smooth running of tertiary institutions.

“If one looks at how the Ministry of Education Sport and Culture is being run by (David) Coltart and how Mudenge is running his ministry, the conclusion is that Mudenge has   failed and his health is a major contributor.

“Since last year he has done nothing to address the issue of students’ accommodation, tuition fees and other basics,” said Nyamanhindi.

Herald

7 July 2010

Herald Reporter

THIS month marks the return of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair to its status as Africa’s premier book showcase following a resolution by stakeholders to bring back the event’s lustre.

Addressing a Press conference at their offices in Harare, ZIBF Association acting executive director Mr Greenfiled Chilongo said the fair, which will run from July 26-31, had lost some ground in the past few years as a result of the downturn in Zimbabwe’s economic fortunes.

He, however, noted that this year’s Book Fair, running under the theme “Promoting Cross-Cultural Dialogue”, will witness a significant return by international participants.

“The new thing that will be in this year’s fair that was missing in the Book Fair of recent years was significant international participation.

“This year, we will have participants from Ghana, South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria and Norway.

“Another activity that has returned, albeit at a smaller scale initially, is the Rights Exchange and Publishers’ Workshop that will be run by Apnet — the African Publishers Network,” Mr Chilongo said.

A writers’ workshop jointly sponsored by the British Council and the Zimbabwe-German Society is also making a welcome return to the book fair.

Mr Chilongo added that publishers had already taken up their traditional stands in the gazebos although the demand for space was high.

The Children’s Reading Tent is likely to be a hive of activity, with special readers sponsored by the Czech Republic, Unicef and Save the Children competing to entertain and stimulate young minds at the book fair.

Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart is expected to open this year’s Indaba.

Mrs Angeline Kamba, who has represented Zimbabwe on several cultural commissions at the United Nations, is billed to be the keynote speaker.

Other presentations will come from Ms Sara Moyo, whose paper “Unlocking the Potential of Cultural and Creative Industries”, will look at how developing countries can realise economic value from their creative talent.

Mr Fred Gweme of SIRDC will present on “Cultural Challenges to Achieving Millennium Development Goals” while Reuben Chirambo from Malawi will present on “Transitions, Literature and Reconstructed Nationalist Memories”.

The main sponsors of this year’s book fair are the Culture Fund and Kopinor, a Norwegian organisation.

Daily Record. Co.uk

5 July 2010

Chart-topping singer Annie Lennox and campaigning comedian Mark Thomas are to speak at this year’s Festival of Politics.

The former Eurythmics star will be making a return visit to the event – which is held annually at Holyrood – to talk about her SING Campaign, which uses music to educate people about the threat of HIV and Aids in South Africa.

She will also be joining comedian Mark Thomas, who has been nominated for a Perrier Award, and Martin Bell, the BBC journalist who became an independent MP, for a discussion session on how people who are not professional politicians can still exert influence.

Ms Lennox said she was “really looking forward to coming back to Edinburgh during the week of the Festival of Politics”.

And she said she would be taking part in “some very stimulating and interesting events”.

Another high-profile speaker at this year’s event will be former deputy prime minister John Prescott, with the Labour man discussing his life in politics.

Tory Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who has served as both defence secretary and foreign secretary, will lead a debate on the idea of a just war and peace and security in modern society.

Meanwhile Des Browne, who was defence secretary in the last Labour government, will join up with former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell and David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s minister for education, sport arts and culture, to discuss the role Scotland could play in conflict mediation.

And with the sixth Festival of Politics taking place in a World Cup year, there will also be a debate on the future of Scottish football, which will be broadcast live on the Real Radio football phone in.

Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson said: “The dynamic nature of politics and the constantly developing relationship between politicians, political institutions and the public will lie at the heart of the 2010 Festival of Politics, under the over-arching theme of changing politics.”

He continued: “Over the last five years, the festival, together with the excellent World Press Photo exhibition, has welcomed more than 175,000 visitors to the Scottish Parliament.

“This proves that whilst politics may be changing, people remain keen to engage with it.

“The Parliament is looking forward to opening its doors once again and welcoming audiences to the 2010 Festival of Politics. We have another interesting, imaginative and thought-provoking programme which I hope the public will enjoy.”

The Festival of Politics is held from August 17 to 21.

Sunday News

4 July 2010

Sunday News Reporter

GOVERNMENT is deliberating on a policy that is aimed at luring Science, Mathematics and English teachers after it emerged that most schools in the country are now enlisting the services of unqualified teachers owing to the critical shortage of skilled personnel in these areas, a cabinet minister has confirmed.
The shortage of teachers in Mathematics, English and all subjects that fall under the umbrella of science, is due to the great demand in neighbouring countries that has greatly crippled the pride of the country’s education system.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, told Sunday News in an interview that Government was not just sitting on its laurels watching the free fall of the education system but was deliberating on measures that could be put in place to stem the exodus of teachers of those critical subjects, as well as trying to map strategies to lure those that have left the country.
“It is true that we have a shortage of the teachers for those subjects whose importance in the academic curricula needs no emphasis. That most schools are employing the services of unqualified teachers is equally true as there is no other option.
“Government is however not happy and is not just watching but we are trying to put in place a policy to stop the exodus of teachers as well as luring those that have left the country,” he said.
Although he could not highlight what measures Government was going to put in place he said his ministry was intent on doing everything with the limited resources to ensure quality education is offered in the country’s schools.
He lamented the lack of financial resources as the major setback in the Government plans — saying the situation where the teachers were getting less than soldiers was not healthy to the education sector.
He was however quick to point out that Government’s efforts were being strangled by the poor remuneration that the teachers were getting.
“We have a saddening situation where teachers are paid less than soldiers. That is not very healthy and as a ministry we have been pushing Government about the issue of teachers’ remuneration, which is poor and remains a challenge in our efforts of breathing life into the slowly diminishing education system.
“The issue of salaries remains the major concern and we will not go far with our efforts if the issue of salaries is not sorted out to the satisfaction of the teachers,” he added.
He said his ministry was going to disburse this month 13 million textbooks sourced under the Education Transition Fund to primary schools in the country’s ten provinces.
Sen Coltart further stated that a secondary school textbook programme was on the cards adding that the programme was put on board after the realisation by his ministry that there was a critical shortage of relevant reading material in most of the country’s schools and aimed to have a 1:1 pupil-book ratio in schools.
The country embarked on a re-engagement exercise last year with the hope of getting back teachers who have left the profession for greener pastures but the exercise bore little fruit, as the process was tedious and frustrating with some teachers spending the better part of some terms without getting paid.

Sunday News

4 July 2010

By Vincent Gono

ABOUT 110 000 out of a total of 338 000 students failed to register for the Ordinary and Advanced levels November examinations and the possibility of the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) allowing them to sit for examinations without paying is very slim as Government owes the examination board US$5 million in unpaid examination fees.

In an interview with the Sunday News last Thursday, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said his ministry was working together with Zimsec to try and have underprivileged candidates sit for examinations under the Basic Education Assistance Model (BEAM)’s estimated US$1,8 million set aside for assisting needy candidates.
He said his ministry was still working on the number of candidates who can be assisted by the fund.
However, fears are that the Beam amount is insufficient to register the 110 000 Ordinary and Advanced levels candidates who failed to register for this year’s examinations.
Sen Coltart said this year 210 000 candidates managed to register for the Ordinary Level November examination, an improvement from last year’s 137 000.
For the Advanced Level examination there was an improvement of 2 000 as 27 000 managed to register as compared to the 25 000 who registered last year.
“This year a total of 110 000 candidates failed to register for both their Ordinary and Advanced levels November examinations. We are, however, working with Zimsec to try and bail out all those students who are underprivileged and could not afford to register through the Beam fund. An estimated figure of US$1,8 million will be put aside to assist the underprivileged.
“I do not have the figures with me right here. We are still working out as of how many children can be assisted under the Beam fund,” he said.
He reiterated that it was Government’s desire to enable all the Ordinary and Advanced levels candidates to write their examinations, adding that although there was a slight improvement in the figures of those who managed to register this year compared to last year a lot still needed to be done to put back on track the education system of the country.
He said despite the slight improvement, government still had a long way to go in reviving the slowly but surely collapsing education system that was once the envy of many.
In an a telephone interview on the Beam fund, the Minister of Labour and Social Services, Ms Paurina Mpariwa, said out of the US$15 million that was reserved for secondary schools US$1,8m would be used for examination fees.
She said the fund was meant to benefit vulnerable children who could not afford to register, adding that a selection committee was put on the ground to select and assess the vulnerability and then approve the child for assistance.
She said it was too early for people to conclude that the amount set aside was inadequate, adding that people should not rush to discredit Government.
“Of the US$15 million that is meant to assist secondary schoolchildren under Beam we have put aside US$1,8 million for examination fees. It is meant for the vulnerable children only and the same conditions of application apply when one is applying for the fees to be covered by Beam.
“There are teams that will be doing the selection and the assessment to see to it that only those who deserve to be assisted benefit from the fund. I think it is too early to rush to the conclusion that the amount set aside is inadequate since it has not yet been exhausted. The money will not be in the form of hard currency but will be transferred to the relevant authority through the bank,” she said.
A source from Zimsec, however, said Government should settle its US$5 million debt with the examination board, arguing that Zimsec was only legally enforcing what the Government had deliberated on and put in place.
“As Zimsec we are not there to try and make life difficult for anyone. We want all the students eligible to write their examinations provided they pay the fees that was agreed and approved by cabinet. We do not know how they are going to make last year’s candidates, who were allowed to sit for their examinations pay. All we want is our money and we are saying if they are trying to talk us into allowing those that cannot pay to write we are afraid we are not going to agree,” said the source at Zimsec.
Last year the Government allowed students to sit for public examination without paying registration fees on the understanding that the fees would be paid later but some parents reneged on the promise to pay and Zimsec is now pressing hard on the Government to pay the US$5 million it is owed in unpaid examination fees from last year.
The payment of the debt seems to be shrouded in a mist of conjecture and dispute with Minister Coltart saying the money will be released by Treasury while the Minister of Finance, Mr Tendai Biti, has been quoted saying examination issues were the responsibility of the education ministry which can only be allocated funds through the national budget.
Sen Coltart, however, said the Government had not shifted from its yesteryear position that makes it mandatory for children to be accorded a decent education, adding that his ministry was doing everything with the available little resources to ensure underprivileged students get the necessary assistance.

Sydney Morning Herald

By Gideon Haigh

July 4, 2010

John Howard, a political manipulator, fell foul of cricket’s political manipulations.

India’s cricket board is auditing the hotel and limousine receipts of its cleverest young administrator. Australia is about to play a Test series against Pakistan in England. Zimbabwe has a sports minister from the Movement for Democratic Change.

Spot the connection between these three news items and you probably spend too much time thinking about cricket. But you may also have read during the week that six member boards of the International Cricket Council have opposed the ascension to its presidency of Australia’s second-longest serving PM, in which all the foregoing are factors.

You remember John Howard, don’t you? That’s right, the off-spinner. Well, it was the turn of Australia and New Zealand to nominate a new ICC vice-president, who would after two years become president for a further two years.

Australia asked him. He was up for it. New Zealand had an excellent candidate too. His name was Sir John Anderson. By a committee on which both countries were represented, Howard was chosen – not quite the end of the story, but close to it.

Now, Howard’s appointment may look a little odd. He may be the first bowler in history to deliver a yorker at the wrong end. But he wrangled a veritable freak show of a cabinet for 11 years when Kevin Rudd couldn’t manage it for three, which implies some organisational acumen. The ICC, too, is nothing if not a political organisation, of which Howard has seen probably rather too many.

Anyway, Nelson Mandela was busy being a nonagenarian, Al Gore was probably having a massage, and . . . well, for heaven’s sake, it’s a body set up to organise games of cricket, not bring peace to the Middle East, or answer the Schleswig-Holstein question.

Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket expected that, as is customary, their prerogative of choosing a nominee would be respected – and, believe me, this job has been held by some total plonkers.

Early indications were that all would be well. That changed, first a little, then a lot, albeit that nobody was quite clear on the reasons. When Howard asked why Cricket South Africa was hostile, its chairman Mtutuzeli Nyoka replied: ”I can’t tell you.”

The personalities who mattered most were those of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, without whose say-so nothing to do with the game now takes place.

Overwhelmingly the largest contributor to global cricket income, India has turned the game upside down with an annual Twenty20 tournament, the Indian Premier League, over which the ICC has no jurisdiction despite it steadily eating international cricket’s lunch.

Yet India, as those who spend too much time thinking about cricket will know, has in the past three months turned into a fever-swamp of corruption, intrigue and retribution. The Indian Premier League’s high-flying cricket impresario, Lalit Modi, has fallen out with his old Board of Control for Cricket in India cronies, who only ever liked him for the great steaming piles of cash he earned them.

To provide chapter and verse would require a modest set of encyclopaedias. Suffice it to say that thinking too much about cricket has its consolations: l’affaire Modi has been a non-stop laugh riot, O. J. meets GFC, dragging in cabinet ministers, chief executives, mistresses and bikini models alike.

It reached the stage last week of forensic examination of Modi’s suitably lavish expenses. All this seems to have played a part in India’s inability to make any determination where Howard was concerned until the 11th hour – in context, the ICC was just not that big a deal.

In this vacuum, other agendas emerged. Zimbabwe, suspended from Test cricket, has an impressive new Sports Minister, David Coltart, from the Movement for Democratic Change, denied the election victory it deserved in March 2008 but now forming an uneasy coalition with Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.

Sensing an opportunity to end their isolation, and cordially detesting Howard for his role in it, Zimbabwe’s administrators were happy to destabilise his nomination, even if Coltart intervened to prevent their official opposition.

And, although we are moving into a world of shadows and mutterings, each of the other boards also had domestic reasons to assert themselves. Unable to host inbound tours for security reasons, and lumbered with a serially incompetent boss dependent on political patronage, the Pakistan Cricket Board is desperate for credibility of any kind.

Cricket South Africa, whose sport is dwarfed in cultural and political significance by rugby and soccer, would likewise benefit in countrymen’s eyes from a popular gesture of standing up to proverbially arrogant Australians.

Sri Lanka Cricket was always committed to opposing Howard, for his flippant but foolhardy remarks six years ago about the island nation’s champion Muttiah Muralitharan. It and the board of Bangladesh are also starveling bodies needing to remain the right side of India to ensure their on-going viability. The West Indies? Maybe Howard disparaged Bob Marley in someone’s hearing.

Who knows what the thinking is, of course, or even if there was thinking at all? For in all the febrile theorising last week about why countries took such exception to Howard, one obvious answer was overlooked: because they could.

Nothing hinged on their decision. The ICC could muddle along without a vice-president. For all its growing powerlessness, most of the time it could barely exist at all.

Rallying against Howard, then, was a painless sort of protest, casting its instigators as weighty men of affairs, while costing them no time, no status and, most importantly, no money: on the contrary, for men under pressure in a cricket world stripped of its former certainties, kicking sand in Australia’s face and cocking a snook at a controversial politician would have made them feel refreshingly relevant again.

They aren’t. India matters – the rest are supplicants. This was anything but a show of unity or strength. It was a confession of desperate, almost pitiful, weakness.

Gideon Haigh’s latest book is “Good Enough: The Ashes 2009.”