Harare, March 15, 2010 – Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday backed the appointment and performance of Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana whose appointment is currently being contested by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

MDC wants President Robert Mugabe among other things to fire Tomana and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono saying their appointments were unconstitutional. The MDC says the unilateral appointments of Tomana and Gono are threatening the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that created the Zimbabwe’s power sharing government in 2009.

But Chinamasa on Monday told the parliamentary portfolio committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs that he fully endorses the appointment of Tomana.

“I have confidence in the AG’s competence and skills. With respect to his competence and skills I give him 100 percent,” said Chinamasa.

Mugabe’s party on the other hand has accused the MDC of reneging on its commitment to persuade the US and the European Union to lift travel bans and asset freezes against its leaders imposed in 2002 following a spate of human rights abuses and repression targeting the opposition.

Tomana, a lawyer who has been closely associated with Zanu-PF over the years was sworn-in as AG in 2008 just after President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai signed a power sharing agreement in September 2008. After swearing in Tomana President Mugabe called him “the right man” to confront the challenges as government’ chief law officer.

Tomana took over from Justice Bharat Patel, who was acting AG following the suspension and eventual dismissal of Sobusa Gula-Ndebele.

Radio VOP