Prosecutor General sworn-in

via Prosecutor General sworn-in – DailyNews Live by Fungi Kwaramba  14 NOVEMBER 2013

President Robert Mugabe yesterday swore-in Johannes Tomana as the new Prosecutor General (PG) at State House , with the hunt for a new Attorney General (AG) underway.

Section 19 (2) Sixth Schedule of the new Constitution, separates the office of the AG from the PG.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Justice minister,  said he was now on the hunt for a new AG who will act as a legal advisor to Cabinet.

“The appointment of Tomana is in line with the new Constitution which gives him six years in the office, after that the president can appoint any candidate of his choice,” Mnangagwa said.

Mnangagwa said he was looking for suitable candidates.

Paul Mangwana, who represented Zanu PF in the epic constitution-making process, has been touted as a likely candidate for  the AG job.

“I am a constitutional lawyer and now that there is a vacancy at the AG I will begin looking at the possible candidates,” Mnangagwa said. “I will however, not be hurried by the media to choose the next AG.”

Soon after taking oath, Tomana said his work was cut out for him.

“We are now focused; hopefully we will be able to carry that role,” Tomana said.

Under the current Constitution the president should appoint a PG who heads the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and prosecutes on behalf of the State.

Even though the new Constitution states that when a president is sworn-in the responsibility for prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the State is transferred from the AG to PG, Tomana has been playing a dual role something that was described as a conflict of interests by legal experts.

Tomana was appointed substantive AG in 2008 to fill a post left vacant by Sobusa Gula-Ndebele.