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You are wrong, JSC tells Tomana

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THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has castigated Prosecutor-General (PG) Johannes Tomana’s application, seeking to bar the commission from exercising its administrative function.

THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has castigated Prosecutor-General (PG) Johannes Tomana’s application, seeking to bar the commission from exercising its administrative function.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Johannes-Tomana The JSC said Tomana was confusing his role and that of judges in the ongoing moves to have him charged with abuse of office and incompetence.

The JSC’s remarks are contained in its heads of argument filed yesterday in response to an application by Tomana, who approached the High Court last week, seeking an interdict against the JSC after it requested him to justify why President Robert Mugabe should not be consulted to set up a tribunal to hear charges against him.

The JSC said no decision had been made regarding whether or not to advise Mugabe on the setting-up of the tribunal and, as such, the letter sent to Tomana was not an infringement of his rights, but was rather a method of protecting his rights and interests.

“In other words, due to the fact that his entire application is premised on a fundamental misunderstanding not only of the Constitution, but of the relationship between the first respondent (JSC), the Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Office of the President of the Republic as established by the Constitution,” JSC said.

“Secondly, and again with respect, the applicant (Tomana) has collapsed and confused the first respondent (JSC) for the judiciary or ‘judges’ as he refers to it in his affidavit. First respondent is neither of the two. It (JSC) is a constitutional commission set up with specific functions and powers including the power to initiate the removal of the Chief Justice, judges and the Prosecutor-General from office.”

The commission further said although Tomana’s application was based on the invalidity or errors in the Constitutional Court and High Court judgments that were sent to him by the JSC last year, the said judgments were valid as there was no higher authority in the land that could set them aside.

“The Constitutional Court is the apex of all courts in Zimbabwe and in constitutional matters and no other court can enquire into the validity of its judgments. Even the Constitutional Court itself cannot review its own decision for the purposes of reversing itself,” JSC said.

The JSC said advising the Head of State about the PG’s removal had to be first investigated as this would undoubtedly affect his rights and interests as he would be automatically suspended from office, hence the requirement to seek his submissions first.

Meanwhile, Tomana’s urgent chamber application was yesterday postponed to next Tuesday following an application by his lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu.

Tomana’s matter briefly appeared before High Court judge Justice Lavender Makoni in the afternoon, but Mpofu made an application for postponement on the basis that he also wanted to appear before another judge in a matter where he is representing Mbada Diamonds.