Attorney-general admits judicial corruption rife in Zimbabwe

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 February 2010

The Attorney-General Johannes Tomana on Monday admitted that some of the judicial officers in the country were corrupt and inefficient.

The under fire Attorney-General was giving oral evidence in Harare before a Parliamentary portfolio committee on Justice, Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

Asked why state prosecutors were increasingly invoking the draconian section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Tomana denied ever instructing his officers to use this counter-measure to keep defendants in prison even after being granted bail by a presiding magistrate or judge.

In recent years when dealing with political or human rights activists perceived to be anti-government, prosecutors often invoke section 121 to effectively defeat the bail order and retain the accused persons in custody for a further 7 days to allow the state the opportunity to file an appeal against the positive bail ruling.

According to Tongai Matutu, the MDC MP for Masvingo Urban and chairman of the committee, Tomana gave three possibilities why prosecutors resort to using the section.

“He said his officers either use it to cover up for their incompetence or out of malice if they’ve got differences with the defendants. The other reason he gave was that his officers might use it to induce defendants to pay them bribes to win their freedom. But he personally denied directing his officers to selectively invoke the section,” Matutu said.

Analysts have pointed out that the country’s judiciary has failed to protect constitutional and human rights. In the past decade alone, the justice delivery system in the country took a major knock, as was proved by the blatant bias and partiality displayed by judicial officers; particularly in cases involving issues of human rights and other politically-sensitive cases.

With very few exceptions, the majority of the judicial officers have shown open bias in favour of the executive arm of the State in matters that are politically sensitive. Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF has progressively and systematically compromised the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and public prosecutors, and instilled one-sided partisanship into the police. It has transformed the army and police force into openly partisan and unaccountable arms of ZANU-PF.