President to name new Prosecutor-General

PRESIDENT Mugabe will soon appoint a new Prosecutor-General after the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry forwarded three names recommended by the Judiciary Services Commission to him, a senior official has said.

Secretary for Justice Mrs Virginia Mabhiza told our Harare Bureau that the JSC had completed the selection process and forwarded names of three prospective prosecutor-generals to the Justice Ministry.

The Justice Ministry, which is headed by VicePresident Emmerson Mnangagwa, has since forwarded the three names to President Mugabe. However, she could not divulge the names of the three candidates who were shortlisted for the top job at the National Prosecuting Authority.

“We cannot release names now because we have to allow due process to take place. An official announcement will be made once President Mugabe has appointed the PG. There are reports that the scoring was flawed; that is untrue because the JSC conducted the interviews and scrutinised the candidates to determine who qualified or not. The JSC then recommended three candidates. The media should not misrepresent facts.”

The JSC recently held public interviews for six candidates for the job: Mr Wilson Manase, Mr Charles Chinyama, Mrs Florence Ziyambi, Mr Misheck Hogwe, Ms Teclar Mapota and Acting PG Mr Ray Goba.

The hunt for a new Prosecutor-General follows Mr Johannes Tomana’s dismissal from office for incompetence and misconduct.

A disciplinary tribunal chaired by High Court judge (retired) Justice Moses Chinhenga found Mr Tomana unfit to continue holding office.

Mr Tomana was last year suspended to allow the tribunal to hear and determine a litany of allegations levelled against him, chief among them defiance of court orders.

President Mugabe through General Notice 292 of 2017 published in the Government Gazette, announced Mr Tomana’s dismissal.