Join queue to be tried like the rest, Tomana told

Impatient … Johannes Tomana

In the end, his trial on criminal abuse of duty as a public officer failed to start Wednesday and was deferred to June 1 at state’s insistence.

Tomana is on charges of alternatively defeating or obstructing the course of justice after he allegedly ordered the release of two treason accused soldiers, Solomon Makumbe and Silas Pfupa.

Makumbe and Pfupa were arrested for attempting to bomb the First Family’s Alpha Omega Dairy farm in Mazowe early this year.

The two were however rearrested and charged with different charges following Tomana’s arrest.

Tomana’s lawyer objected to the new trial date insisting his client wanted an earlier date, adding that failure to that he wanted his client removed from remand.

“On February 14, we went to the national director of prosecution informing them that we had not yet received State papers. They said we should be served with State papers immediately so that trial could start. Today we are served with witness statements which were recorded at the beginning of February.

“There is no reason why the State failed to serve us in time. We thought with the sensitivity of the matter State would want to conclude it in time.”

However, prosecutor, Timothy Makoni, said Tomana has to patiently wait for his trial as he was not the only person with a pending criminal offence.

“The judiciary system is like a conveyor belt and other matters are already in queue.”

He added, “It would be unfair to remove other matters to accommodate the accused. He should wait his turn in that chain of events,” said the prosecutor.

The state, however, consented to have Tomana’s reporting conditions altered.

He will now report once a fortnight at CID law and order.

Makumbe and Pfupa were arrested together with Owen Kuchata and Borman Ngwenya for possession of weaponry for sabotage and money laundering for terrorism purposes.

Kuchata has since been incarcerated while Ngwenya is on trial.

After the Makumbe and Pfupa, were released from remand, Tomana suggested that they be treated as witnesses.

According to prosecutors, this was contrary to the evidence at hand which is linking them to the offence, the court heard.