(Last Updated on November 8, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – As pressure mounts for the resignation of Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana, the Tendai Biti led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) says is going to petition President Mugabe to fire the under-fire official.
Tomana was last week slapped with a 30-day jail term for defying top court orders to issue private prosecution certificates for two cases he refused to handle.
In one of the cases, Zanu PF legislator Munyaradzi Kereke faces charges of raping a minor girl while in the other case, businesswoman Jane Mutasa is accused of defrauding a telecommunications company $1, 7 million in airtime voucher cards.
It has also emerged that Tomana rubberstamped the acquittal of Charles Nherera, the former Zupco board chairperson.
Biti’s PDP party said these developments showed that Tomana was not fit for the top government office.
“This latest development vindicates our call on why Tomana is not fit for office or should be forced to resign,” the party said in a statement on Thursday.
“We once again call for immediate resignation of Tomana as the charges brought against him are gross abuse of office … or the President should use his prerogative and dismiss him in terms of the country’s Constitution.”
Nherera was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in 2006 for corruption after he solicited an $85,000 bribe from a company awarded a tender to supply Zupco with buses.
During that period, Tomana, who was a legal advisor to Zupco, represented Nherera as his lawyer in the trial and later played an influential role to have Nherera acquitted at the High Court when he was later appointed the Attorney General.
“It is now clear that Tomana is unfit to continue heading the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as he abused his close association with Nherera dating back to when the two were board members of public bus company, Zupco,” said the PDP.
The party said Tomama should also be forced to open dockets of Zanu PF officials and state agents who maimed MDC supporters in 2008.
The opposition claims that hundreds of their activists were attacked by known Zanu PF activists and the militia in the run up to the controversial 2008 Presidential runoff vote.
“Tomana refused to act on evidence produced by victims of that year’s political violence, to investigate and compel the police to open criminal dockets to claims the victims made of kidnappings, assault, injuries that were perpetrated by known state security agents and the Zanu PF militia,” the party said.