Anti-Corruption Commission Shelves Plans To Arrest Attorney General

Zimbabwe's Anti-Corruption Commission has ditched plans to arrest Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana following a fall-out involving the arrest of lawmakers over the alleged abuse of the Constituency Development Fund.

The graft-fighting body had interpreted Tomana's directive that the arrest of lawmakers be kept in abeyance pending the finalisation of an all-encompassing and comprehensive audit as an abuse of his office as the commission is an independent authority.

This week, Anti-Corruption Commission chairperson, Denford Chirindo, said the commission was not going to arrest Tomana, but could not give further details.

"Anything else that does not come through the chairperson is not owned by the commission," said Chirindo.

Four lawmakers were arrested at the behest of the Anti-Corruption Commission this year but the AG halted prosecutions due to the aforesaid reasons.

The decision did not go down well with some commissioners and Members of Parliament. The State's case was also made weaker because Finance Minister, Tendai Biti dished out the constituency funds without first coming up with an enabling Act of Parliament.

At the end of March, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga, told Parliament that Tomana does not have the power to give directives to the Anti-Corruption Commission as it was an independent body.

As for the audit, the minister said his ministry has an internal audit department, which carries out the exercise, but at times the office of the comptroller and auditor general can help.

"The ministry derives its authority from the Public Finance and Management Act and the Attorney General, in my knowledge of the law and in terms of the laws of this country, can only order the Police Commissioner-General to investigate in a particular situation, but he cannot do so in respect of the Anti-Corruption Commission, which is an independent constitutional body.

So, that is the position and that is the process, which is followed and that is what the AG can or cannot do," said Matinenga.

"Obviously one hopes that that duty or that decision of whether to prosecute or not to prosecute is made judiciously and professionally. So, that is the process which we follow in placing a matter before the courts because we are also aware that even if the investigator or a prosecutor says there is a case, a magistrate or a judge can say at the end of the day that no proper case has been placed before us and can acquit."