THE race to succeed Prosecutor-General (PG) Ray Goba has
been plunged into chaos after it emerged this week that President Emmerson
Mnangagwa has rejected the three front-runners for political reasons and
requested the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to submit three new names amid
intense jockeying for the post.
Following the completion of public interviews in November
last year, the JSC submitted the names of the top three performers to Mnangagwa
for consideration as required by law, with former principal law officer Calvin
Mantsebo topping the list of 10 candidates.
Former student activist Tinomudaishe Chinyoka and president
of the Law Society of Zimbabwe Misheck Hogwe came second and third respectively.
The other seven participants are: Kumbirai Hodzi, the
current acting prosecutor-general, former deputy prosecutor-general Florence
Ziyambi, former legislator Jessie Majome, former Bulawayo High Court judge
Maphios Cheda, former principal law officer in the Ministry of Justice Noria
Mashumba, as well as Harare lawyers Edmund Marondedze and Wendy Chingeya.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Virginia Mabiza confirmed in a telephone interview on
Wednesday that Mnangagwa had asked for new names.
“The story is actually true. That’s all I can say,” she
said, refusing to reveal more detail.
Sources from the National Prosecution Authority and
government said heavy political shadow-boxing was delaying the appointment
although interviews were done two months ago.
According to section 259 (3) of the constitution, the prosecutor-general
is appointed from the list of candidates recommended by the JSC.
Sources in the Justice ministry said the JSC is under
political pressure from Zanu PF, which wants to influence the process.
Mnangagwa, sources said, ruled out Mantsebo — the top
performer during the public interviews — on the basis that very little was
known about him, while Chinyoka was discredited for his previous association
with the opposition MDC.
His reservations about Mantsebo and Chinyoka effectively
meant that Hogwe would be the automatic choice, but influential senior
officials from the Justice ministry opposed his appointment.
While some senior ministry officials, who include Mabhiza,
prefer Hodzi, there is another group in government which is pushing for Cheda.
However, there are reservations against Cheda, arising from
a land grab scandal which saw a pressure group known as AR from the Oshakati
town in northern Namibia where he serves as a judge, organise protests against
him last year after he was controversially allocated a plot by the town
council.
The pressure group alleged corruption, but the case died
down after the Namibian government leapt to his support. “The issue is that the President had indicated that he knew
very little of Mantsebo since he has been working as director of prosecutions
in the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone since 2003.
“Reservations were expressed about the suitability of
Chinyoka given his previous political associations. So the president relayed
this back to the JSC for further input but it seems there is now a fierce fight
over who should be appointed because it appears Hogwe is not preferred by some
powerful people at the Justice ministry and other government arms,” an official
said.
Sources further said Mnangagwa called a short meeting on
December 5 to try and address the issue. The brief meeting, held at his Munhumutapa offices, was
attended by Chiwenga, Chief Justice Luke Malaba, Justice minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi, Justice secretary Mabhiza, secretary of the JSC Walter Chikwanha and
senior officials from the Office of the President.
At the meeting, sources said, Mnangagwa asked them to
propose the way forward, starting with Malaba. Chiwenga remained silent throughout the meeting, according
to sources. “Malaba was forthright. He simply said they did their part and
everything now lay in his hands,” a source who attended the meeting said.
Mabhiza is said to have suggested that Mnangagwa should
consider even those that fell outside the top three, including Hodzi.
Malaba reportedly objected to Mabhiza’s suggestion of
Hodzi, reminding the meeting that he had actually finished seventh out of the
10 interviewed.
“In the end, the meeting did not resolve anything. It ended
with the President saying he would be making further consultations before he
makes the appointment,” the source said.
Malaba is the one who took the task of submitting the names
of the three topmost performers during the interviews.
In an interview with the Independent, Ziyambi said
Mnangagwa will appoint his preferred candidate “when the right time arrives”.
“I don’t have any idea when he is going to make the
appointment. The process is such that when the interviews are done, the
president is given a list of three names from which he would then make his
appointment. He will, in doing so, use his own discretion and the constitution
doesn’t specify that the appointment should be made within a month or two. He
is committed to the constitution and constitutionality and therefore he will
make that appointment when the right time arrives,” Ziyambi said.
Asked about the December 5 meeting, Ziyambi said: “We hold
so many meetings on a regular basis and I don’t quite remember which one you
are talking about.”
The justice minister denied knowledge of factional fights
and also refused to discuss the issue of Mnangagwa’s request for new names.
“I don’t know of those issues but what I can say is that
the President is not obligated to take advice on who he should appoint. So if
anyone could be trying to influence that decision, it could be a futile
attempt,” he said.
Goba was given the job after the red flag had been raised
against him over his suitability to hold the office due to his criminal
conviction in Namibia. He was fired last year over the Namibian cases. Zimbabwe
Independent
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