The experts accused Attorney-General Johannes Tomana of attempting to silence people from discussing issues of national importance.
Tomana last week described as “illegal” calls for Chihuri to step down and threatened to prosecute media practitioners and those in the inclusive government who were saying the police chief’s term of office expired on January 31.
Constitutional lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku said discussing the expiry of Chihuri’s term of office does not in any way undermine the Constitution or the work of the police force.
“Tomana expressed a very primitive view which we do not expect from the government’s top lawyer,” he said. “I think he was misquoted because such a view would mean that any debate in a democracy becomes a criminal act.”
Tomana told the state media that it was only President Robert Mugabe who had the power to appoint a Commissioner-General, arguing Chihuri’s case was about reappointment, not appointment which requires consultation as stipulated in the Global Political Agreement.
But Madhuku said there was no conceptual difference between an appointment and a reappointment. “It’s a superficial view that an appointment and reappointment are different things,” he said.
“It is the same as an election and re-election. If Mugabe is re-elected today, it is the same as being elected.’’ Madhuku said Tomana should desist from threatening people who debate Chihuri’s term of office.
“Tomana can threaten and arrest people, but the fortunate thing is that it is not him but the courts which decide whether a person is guilty or not. No person will ever be convicted for discussing such an issue,” he said.
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No to unilateral appointment of Chihuri— MDC
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) executive director Irene Petras also said it was a democratic right for people to freely discuss public appointments such as those of the country’s top police officers and judges.
She said it was in the public interest for Zimbabweans to have confidence in people appointed to top public positions.
“This is part of a robust debate about public appointments and there is nothing criminal about discussing whether Chihuri’s term has ended,” said Petras.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC have insisted that Mugabe cannot reappoint Chihuri without consulting the two other coalition government partners.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said Zimbabweans have a right to know the correct position regarding Chihuri’s status following the expiry of his term of office.
“Chihuri’s term of office has expired and other officers within the ranks must be given a chance to lead the police force,” he said. “People are entitled to their own opinion and journalists must not be threatened by a favour-seeking Attorney- General.”
MDC deputy spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said the extension of Chihuri’s term of office was an issue that required stakeholder consultation and consensus.
He urged Tomana to quit government and join mainstream politics, accusing him of abusing state apparatus to silence opposing views.
“The MDC will never be cowed into silence by public officers who are ignorant of their boundaries,” he said. “We view the threats as part of Zanu PF’s broad strategy to ruin the inclusive government.”
