Tomana tribunal completes probe
THE tribunal set up by President Mugabe to probe the suitability of suspended Prosecutor-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, has completed gathering submissions from all witnesses, with the committee now working with set time frames.
Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza said yesterday that the committee had completed hearing evidence on February 8.
She said the Defence Counsel submitted its preliminary submissions to the tribunal on Monday.
“This will be followed by submissions in both the preliminary submissions and the main issues by the evidence leader,” said Mrs Mabhiza. “Thereafter, a response on the main submissions by the defence counsel shall be done on February 24. “Oral submissions by both parties are expected to be tabled before the tribunal on February 24. Subsequently, the tribunal will draft a report on its findings to His Excellency, President Mugabe, which are expected by the end of March 2017.”
Mr Tomana faced a slew of allegations ranging from criminal abuse of office and gross incompetence.
At least 23 witnesses, including Mr Tomana, testified before the tribunal.
It is understood that some of the witnesses who testified before the tribunal were Deputy Prosecutor-General Mrs Florence Ziyambi, senior prosecutors in the Prosecutor-General’s Office and others who left Government service for private practice
The tribunal seeks to inquire into Mr Tomana’s conduct with respect to court orders issued by the High Court and Supreme Court in cases pitting Mr Francis Maramwidze versus Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and another; Telecel Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd versus Attorney-General; and Professor Charles Muchemwa Nherera versus Jayesh Shah.
In Maramwidze’s case, Mr Tomana is accused of refusing or failing to issue him with a certificate for private prosecution as ordered by the High Court on May 14, 2014 in a rape case involving incarcerated for Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe official Munyaradzi Kereke.
The tribunal seeks to establish whether or not Tomana was not only in contempt of court and in violation of the oath of office and the constitution by refusing or failing to obey the court orders.
The tribunal is made up of retired judge Justice Moses Chinhengo, University of Zimbabwe law lecturer, Mr Emmanuel Magade and lawyer, Ms Melania Matshiya.