JSC opposes Tomana’s bid for foreign judge

via JSC opposes Tomana’s bid for foreign judge – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 9, 2016

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has been asked to file opposing papers to an application made by Prosecutor-General (PG) Johannes Tomana, who is seeking to be tried by a retired or foreign judge.

BY staff reporter

High Court judge, Justice Lavender Makoni yesterday allowed the JSC until April 5 to respond to Tomana’s application before the matter can be heard on merits.

Tomana was last month served with show cause letters from the JSC seeking his views on his suitability to hold the office of the PG given his defiance of two court orders and his subsequent conviction on contempt of court.

Through his lawyers, Tomana filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar the JSC from instituting any disciplinary proceedings against him, arguing the move by the JSC was unconstitutional.

However, before the hearing of his urgent chamber application, Tomana’s lawyers wrote to the court requesting that a foreign or retired judge be appointed to deal with his matter, since the serving judges belonged to the same JSC whose head, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, was the one who had written him a letter.

Tomana is out on bail for criminal abuse of duty as a public officer or alternatively defeating or obstructing the course of justice after he allegedly ordered the release of Solomon Makumbe and Silas Pfupa and turned them into State witnesses.

Pfupa and Makumbe, who are attached to 1 Field Regiment and Zimbabwe Intelligence Corps, respectively, are accused of trying to petrol-bomb the First Family’s Alpha Omega Dairy Farm in Mazowe in January.

Tomana, who is represented by Advocate Thabani Mpofu, is set to appear for trial at the Harare Magistrates’ Court on April 27 this year.