Mugabe sacks new prosecutor general
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe sacked Ray Goba as the country’s top prosecutor on Friday six weeks after appointing him, a government notice said.
Mugabe, 93, gave no reason for the decision. Goba was appointed when Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was in charge of the justice ministry, which oversees the office of the prosecutor general.
Mnangagwa, seen as a potential successor to Mugabe, was stripped of the ministry of justice in a cabinet reshuffle on Oct. 9. Goba could not be reached for comment. He was appointed on Sept. 13 after interviews by the judicial services commission.
The government announced in an Extraordinary Gazette, General Notice 642 of 2017, that “it is hereby notified that the captioned General Notice that was published in the Gazette Extraordinary on the 13th September, 2017, is repealed.”
Mnangagwa has been linked to a faction of the ruling Zanu PF party known as Team Lacoste backing him to succeed Mr. Mugabe. The other faction, Generation 40, said to be led by First Lady Grace Mugabe, allegedly wants her to succeed the 93 year old president when he leaves the post.
Goba’s name was among the top three names that were recommended to President Robert Mugabe for appointment to the position of Prosecutor General following public interviews of seven senior lawyers by the Judicial Service Commission. This was however despite the fact that Goba had a previous conviction for a traffic offence while he was working in Namibia. Reuters/VOA
