Johannes Tomana's woes mount

SUSPENDED Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana faces a torrid fortnight in his legal battle to retain his job and not to be held personally liable for his actions when he refused to prosecute convicted rapist Munyaradzi Kereke beginning with a court appearance tomorrow.

Tomana's woes mounted last week when acting Prosecutor General Advocate Ray Goba wrote to Harare Regional Magistrate Noel Mupeiwa and private prosecutor Charles Warara that the suspended PG should personally explain his decisions to the court before it determined who should pay the cost of Kereke's trial.

Tomana is tomorrow expected to appear in court to defend his decision not to prosecute Kereke.

Warara confirmed that Tomana should be coming to court.

"We are ready to cross-examine Tomana when he comes to testify on why he made the decision not to prosecute Kereke," Warara said.

If the court rules against him, Tomana would be left with a huge legal bill that could run into tens of thousands of dollars, depending on what scale the magistrate decides to be used to pay the costs.

The bill could run to $60 000 if the court applies the client/attorney scale.

Meanwhile, the Justice Moses Chinhengo tribunal that started investigations into Tomana's fitness to continue holding the office as PG entered its second week.

Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza confirmed that investigations had begun.

"The tribunal started its work on July 25 and the speed of progress will determine when the hearing would be held," Mabhiza said.

The tribunal, after its hearings, can recommend to President Robert Mugabe to dismiss Tomana if it finds him guilty of the charges levelled against him by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

The JSC wrote to Mugabe alleging that Tomana was failing in discharging his duties, particularly when he unilaterally decided to withdraw charges against suspected Gushungo Dairy bombers.

Tomana was also alleged to have improperly conducted himself when he refused to prosecute a number of high profile cases, including that of Kereke.