MDC-T Publishes Attorney-General's Home Phone Number, Urges Supporters To Harass Him

Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, whose home phone number has been released to the public as MDC activists and supporters urge each other to call his home persistently and ask for the granting of bail to Roy Bennett. The move is likely to further strain relations between Prime Minister Tsvangirai's party and the AG's office. The MDC has been trying to get Tomana fired by Mugabe since February this year, but has gotten no joy from the "The Solution." Relations with Gideon Gono, however, appear to be improving as Tsvangirai reached out to him this week.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 16 October 2009

In a move that is likely to entrench the intransigence of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, the MDC yesterday published the private home phone number of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and urged its supporters to call the number repeatedly until they get through and protest the jailing of Roy Bennett after his indictment in Mutare this week.

The opposition party urges supporters of Bennett to be "polite" and, if the phone is answered by someone other than Tomana, to ask whoever is on the line to pass on the message that Roy Bennett must be granted bail.

This morning, the phone at the AG's home appeared have been taken off the hook as a result of the flood of phone calls to his home.

I doubt Tomana will take kindly to this intrusion.

Although the MDC-T and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, have been insisting that the Attorney-General be fired by Mugabe because he was appointed "in violation" of the Global Political Agreement that gave birth to the Inclusive Government, Mugabe has been insistent that Tomana and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono are here to stay. He says their only crime is that the MDC sees them as supporters of the president.

The old dictator has even said he is willing to let the Inclusive Government fall apart as a result of the dispute over the two men.

Tsvangirai appears to be backing down from this position now. It is revealed today by the Zimbabwe Independent that Gono, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, met Tsvangirai at his Strathaven home on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The Prime Minister also met separately with His Excellency The President of The Republic of Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, (also the most powerful Finance Minister in Africa) who is fighting publicly with Gideon Gono.

Details of their discussions have not been released, although it appears that Tsvangirai is now trying to repair the rift, having realised that the Governor is not going anywhere, as Mugabe insists.

The meetings come in the wake of Gideon Gono's attack on the MDC earlier this week, when he said that he is "definite that the removal of sanctions is mentioned in the GPA, but not me."

The Attorney-General is proving a more prickly pear for the MDC to handle. Hence the confrontational approach now taken by the MDC and its activists.

It remains to be seen what results this will achieve.