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(NEWZIMBABWE) Tomana denies WikiLeaks probe plan

Tomana denies WikiLeaks probe plan
by Staff Reporter
14/01/2011 00:00:00

ATTORNEY General Johannes Tomana was sucked into a political storm on Friday after distancing himself from state media reports that he was putting together a commission to look into “treasonous collusion between local Zimbabweans and the aggressive international world” over the WikiLeaks cables.

The state-run Herald newspaper quoted a statement allegedly issued by Tomana during the Christmas holidays announcing the commission.

Part of the statement said: “The WikiLeaks appear to show a treasonous collusion between local Zimbabweans and the aggressive international world, particularly the United States.

“With immediate effect, I am going to instruct a team of practising lawyers to look into the issues that arise from the WikiLeaks.”
This week, the Herald penned a follow-up story claiming the commission would be announced on Wednesday.

But Tomana threw the cat among the pigeons on Friday after declaring that he had never considered appointing such a commission, and denouncing the comments attributed to him in the Herald as a fabrication.

“I do not have the powers to appoint a commission or committee,” Tomana told the Zimbabwe Independent on Friday. “If you look at the scenarios around the appointment of commissions, it must be of national importance and it is only the president who can appoint a commission. Our powers are vested in Section 76 of the constitution. I do not know where all this is coming from.”

Tomana’s denial will spark new fears that political actors may have tried to use the AG’s office to institute a commission that would rack up damaging claims made against several senior opposition figures, including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in the United States embassy cables posted by the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks.

Questions would also be asked why the attorney general – who has admitted being a supporter of Zanu PF – did not move swiftly to distance his office from the initial Herald report and waited for prompting from journalists.

President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party, at its December conference, passed a resolution calling for the prosecution of individuals accused of making "treasonous" statements to foreign governments, including agitating for sanctions.

In comments at the conference, Mugabe declared: "It should be treasonous to do so; treasonous to call for sanctions on the people and anyone doing so is inviting punishment … we want to have laws to deal with this."

WikiLeaks published US embassy cables in which Tsvangirai appeared to be privately urging the United States to maintain sanctions on Zimbabwe, while publicly calling for the embargo to be lifted.

The cables also showed some MDC officials, including Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, discussing various options with US officials on how to remove President Robert Mugabe from power – including military action. The MDC officials however refused to consider taking up arms as an option.

Mangoma was also said to have called on the United States to set-up a fund to bribe military and police chiefs who are seen as loyal to Mugabe. Mangoma, who is the deputy secretary general of the MDC, has since denied making the request.

Labels: JOHANNES TOMANA, WIKILEAKS

posted by MrK @ 6:40 PM