THE Human Rights Parliamentary Thematic Committee yesterday queried why Prosecutor General (PG) Johannes Tomana continued to double up as acting Attorney General (AG) yet the two departments should be totally divorced from each other.
VENERANDA LANGA
This followed disclosures by Deputy AG Kumbirai Hodzi that Tomana was doubling up as PG and AG as President Robert Mugabe had not yet appointed a substantive AG as required by the new Constitution.
Hodzi appeared before the committee representing Tomana to speak on the functions of the National Prosecution Authority (NPA). The committee, which was led by acting chairman Manicaland Senator Patrick Chitaka (MDC-T), said it was wrong as the AG was a member of the Executive and sat in Cabinet and Parliament while the NPA was supposed to be a completely independent institution.
“As it stands right now, Tomana is still the caretaker AG and the separation of this office is still ongoing, resulting in the PG wearing two hats even if the two are separate offices,” Hodzi said. “In relation to the new Constitution, it is clear that the NPA will be a stand-alone office which is independent and will not be subject to any authority when it comes to prosecutorial decisions.”
Hodzi, however, said the NPA might consult the Justice ministry when formulating policies, and in terms of the Constitution will make annual reports to Parliament, meaning at the end of the day it will account to Parliament.
He also told the committee that the NPA now endeavoured to meet the constitutional requirements that any person arrested should appear before the courts within 48 hours.
