Tomana must resign

The acquittal of Roy Bennett last week vindicated the MDC-Ts long standing position that their national treasurer was being persecuted through trumped up charges simply because he is a white man and a former commercial farmer whose farm was invaded and ruined by Zanu (PF) hoodlums.

There was no shred of valid evidence in all the trash that Johannes Tomana presented in the High Court. It was all fiction emanating from the connivance of the notorious CIO, the partisan ZRP and the Zanu (PF) Attorney General. The idea was to ensure that Bennett would not be sworn in as the deputy minister for Agriculture in the limping inclusive government. Bennetts acquittal therefore posed an embarrassing situation for Mugabe and his decaying political party in more ways than one.

Reliable sources indicate that as soon as the Bennett case was filed in the High Court, Mugabe summoned both of his legal puppy dogs, Chinamasa and Tomana, and asked them whether the case was sustainable in court. Based on his numerous failures as a lawyer and a persecutor of the MDC, Chinamasa is reported to have told Bob that the Bennett case was unwinnable as there was no serious evidence against the MDC national treasurer.

In his foolishness, Tomana is reported to have told Mugabe that the Bennett case was easily winnable, and that the highly popular commercial farmer would soon wallow in prison after being convicted. Mugabe is reported to have asked Tomana to take on the case as a personal project. The desperate AG, however, found the going getting tougher and tougher as the fearless Beatrice Mtetwa fired endless holes into the states weak case. Justice Bhunu is not necessarily known to be sympathetic to either whites or to the MDC. But even he found it difficult to convict Bennett on the strength of the weakest case ever handled by a Zimbabwean High Court judge.

Roy Bennetts acquittal does not necessarily mean that all of a sudden the judiciary in Zimbabwe has become autonomous, just and fair in handling politically sensitive cases. Neither does it mean the judiciary has found a new friend in the MDC-T. Rather, it simply means that as a lawyer and prosecutor, Tomana sucks. He should, in all fairness to this nation, resign from his post and go back to private practice.

But even if he goes back into private practice, it is unlikely that any sane person would approach him for legal representation given this latest and embarrassing performance. There is a huge difference between persecution and prosecution, but, for some reason, Johannes Tomana does not seem to get the point.

The belated appeal against Bhunus verdict obviously came after Chinamasa had read Tomana the Riot Act for indicating that he was satisfied with the courts decision. Chinamasa is desperate to ensure that Bennett does not get sworn in as deputy minister for Agriculture. The appeal to the Supreme Court is almost bound to be unsuccessful, unless, of course the matter is handles by a carefully selected Bench, which will include the well known partisan Chief Justice himself.

The purpose of the appeal is, however, to delay Bennetts swearing in as much as possible. The Supreme Court will therefore be instructed to take its time hearing the matter. Such is the evil that pervades Zanu (PF). The Tomana appeal might be heard by the Supreme Court some time next year, possibly after the inclusive government has been replaced by a legitimately elected government. Hopefully, that will be an MDC government and not the ruinous Zanu (PF) one. Most of the senior leaders within Zanu (PF) have long since lost their capacity to be ashamed of evil actions. May God rescue this country from these demons.