'SEND THEM HOME'
PETER TIFFEN
The Northern Territory News
12Nov07
THE Ugandan Government has called in Interpol to track down two teenage cricketers who fled their national team in Darwin.
But they were playing cricket in Adelaide for the West Torrens club yesterday and have told how they fear for their lives if they were to return to Africa.
Uganda Sports Minister Charles Bakabulindi has put in place a commission to investigate the circumstances under which the players disappeared in Darwin.
He also requested Interpol to look for them and hand them back to Uganda.
But they were playing cricket in Adelaide for the West Torrens club yesterday and have told how they fear for their lives if they were to return to Africa.
Uganda Sports Minister Charles Bakabulindi has put in place a commission to investigate the circumstances under which the players disappeared in Darwin.
He also requested Interpol to look for them and hand them back to Uganda.
Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello, orphan friends from the same village, fled from the Uganda team after it won the ICC Division III title in Darwin in June.
Former Darwin cricketer Ken Skewes, who met the Ugandans at the 2006 under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, alerted Australian authorities after the pair turned up on his doorstep in Adelaide.
The pair now have work visas and share a flat in Adelaide with boxer Jackson Asiku, who fled Uganda while in Australia for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Bakabulindi told AAP: “We can not simply sit and watch as our sportsmen who go to developed countries simply disappear in those countries. We have to react because they damage the image of our country. We have requested Interpol to arrest them and deport them back.”
He said it was indiscipline of the highest order for national players to disappear in countries where they go to represent their country.
He said the Ugandan Government will put in place measures to ensure those who represent the country don't disappear.
But Ochan told the Guardian Messenger in Adelaide last month that they wanted to stay in Australia and one-day wear the baggy green.
“Where we come from there is a lot of killing,” he said.
“Sometimes we're sleeping, rebels come to the village and knock on the door. Sometimes they kill people, sometimes they take your cows, sheep or goats.
“If I went back home I have no future. They (Uganda) have banned me but I'm still playing here. I love cricket and people are taking care of me like family.”
