Warrants of arrest issued for Chingoka and Bvute as cricket saga continues

By Tichaona Sibanda
02 November 2005

Earlier today we received reports that police in Harare had issued warrants of arrest for Zimbabwe Cricket President Peter Chingoka and Managing Director Osias Bvute who allegedly disappeared overnight following police raids at their homes. Police detectives allegedly raided their homes at 4am on Friday but, as the story goes, the two had already disappeared amid allegations that they were tipped off by close associates in the security services.

Investigations by a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe team into the way foreign currency was handled by the ZC ultimately decreed that Chingoka and Bvute had flouted the foreign exchange laws and had a case to answer.

Chingoka and Bvute, were believed to have skipped the country.

However, Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute has since contacted the BBC World Service and dismissed as "totally untrue" these claims that he and chairman Peter Chingoka have been in hiding.

Bvute said factions opposed to Chingoka had "found it convenient to tell these malicious stories to discredit us." He added: "I was fast asleep at 4am and left my house at eight this morning to go to work. I have not been raided and I don't believe anyone has raided Mr Chingoka's house either."

Chingoka and Ozias Bvute were interviewed by Reserve Bank officials on Friday.That prompted Justice Ahmed Ebrahim, a member of the ZC board of directors, to call an emergency meeting of all senior personnel for next Monday. Bvute added: "It is true we are in discussions with the Reserve Bank, but not the fraud squad. We are in discussions pertaining to exchanging control compliance.

The original story of Bvute and Chingoka’s disappearance came from none other than former captain Tatenda Taibu who suggested to the BBC in an interview that Robert Mugabe, as patron of ZC, had stepped in and had them removed from office.

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