News / National
'Mangwana to replace Attorney-General Johannes Tomana'
29 Aug 2013 at 08:58hrs | Views
HARARE - Eminent lawyer Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana is tipped to become the new Attorney General of Zimbabwe, highly-placed sources told the Daily News yesterday.
The notification in this regard will be issued in the next couple of days and Mangwana is expected to assume office at some point next week.
The 52-year-old Mangwana will replace current Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, who is set to become the prosecutor-general for the new National Prosecuting Authority created under the new Zimbabwe Constitution.
Tomana, was appointed substantive AG in 2008 to fill a post left vacant by Sobusa Gula-Ndebele, an ex-military supremo, who was fired in May 2008 after a three-man tribunal found him guilty of conduct inconsistent with a public official after repeatedly clashing with Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Gula-Ndebele was placed on forced suspension after police charged him with corruption in connection with his ties to James Mushore, director of NMB Holdings who fled to Britain in 2004 during a banking crisis.
Authorities accuse Gula-Ndebele of meeting Mushore overseas and promising he would not be arrested if he returned to Zimbabwe.
Police claimed at the time that the meeting was held without the knowledge or authority of government. Mushore was arrested in October 2008 after he arrived in Harare.
A three-member tribunal established by Mugabe recommended his suspension, leading to the take-over by Tomana.
The AG post is a hot government seat in Zimbabwe, which has to contend with heavy political meddling.
The MDC had persistently accused Tomana of being biased, and fingered him as a willing tool in the prosecution of MDC activists and other senior officials.
Legal experts said this week despite his somewhat sour relations with the MDC, Tomana had a tough job of protecting the freedom and the security of all of the people of Zimbabwe and their civil rights and liberties through the neutral and even-handed application of the Constitution and the laws enacted under it.
Under the tenure of the inclusive government, Mugabe staunchly resisted MDC efforts to unseat Tomana through political reforms envisaged under the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The MDC wanted a consensus candidate agreed to by all the three parties in the ruling coalition to replace Tomana.
Under the old constitutional order, the office of the AG was a Constitutional Office set up under Section 76 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mangwana is a former legislator in the 7th Zimbabwe Parliament and was a leading figure in the movement for the adoption of a new Constitution.
Mangwana, who joined government from private practice ' something highly unusual in Zimbabwe's legal fraternity ' has used his time as the constitutional parliamentary committee (Copac) co-chairman to climb the government ladder.
Mangwana, has previously served as deputy minister of Transport and Communications, minister of State for State Enterprises and Parastatals, minister of Labour and Social Welfare, minister of Indigenisation and Empowerment before serving briefly as acting minister of Information and Publicity following the dismissal of Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, who failed to win a seat in the 2008 election.
The notification in this regard will be issued in the next couple of days and Mangwana is expected to assume office at some point next week.
The 52-year-old Mangwana will replace current Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, who is set to become the prosecutor-general for the new National Prosecuting Authority created under the new Zimbabwe Constitution.
Tomana, was appointed substantive AG in 2008 to fill a post left vacant by Sobusa Gula-Ndebele, an ex-military supremo, who was fired in May 2008 after a three-man tribunal found him guilty of conduct inconsistent with a public official after repeatedly clashing with Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Gula-Ndebele was placed on forced suspension after police charged him with corruption in connection with his ties to James Mushore, director of NMB Holdings who fled to Britain in 2004 during a banking crisis.
Authorities accuse Gula-Ndebele of meeting Mushore overseas and promising he would not be arrested if he returned to Zimbabwe.
Police claimed at the time that the meeting was held without the knowledge or authority of government. Mushore was arrested in October 2008 after he arrived in Harare.
A three-member tribunal established by Mugabe recommended his suspension, leading to the take-over by Tomana.
The MDC had persistently accused Tomana of being biased, and fingered him as a willing tool in the prosecution of MDC activists and other senior officials.
Legal experts said this week despite his somewhat sour relations with the MDC, Tomana had a tough job of protecting the freedom and the security of all of the people of Zimbabwe and their civil rights and liberties through the neutral and even-handed application of the Constitution and the laws enacted under it.
Under the tenure of the inclusive government, Mugabe staunchly resisted MDC efforts to unseat Tomana through political reforms envisaged under the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The MDC wanted a consensus candidate agreed to by all the three parties in the ruling coalition to replace Tomana.
Under the old constitutional order, the office of the AG was a Constitutional Office set up under Section 76 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mangwana is a former legislator in the 7th Zimbabwe Parliament and was a leading figure in the movement for the adoption of a new Constitution.
Mangwana, who joined government from private practice ' something highly unusual in Zimbabwe's legal fraternity ' has used his time as the constitutional parliamentary committee (Copac) co-chairman to climb the government ladder.
Mangwana, has previously served as deputy minister of Transport and Communications, minister of State for State Enterprises and Parastatals, minister of Labour and Social Welfare, minister of Indigenisation and Empowerment before serving briefly as acting minister of Information and Publicity following the dismissal of Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, who failed to win a seat in the 2008 election.
Source - Daily News
