Staff shortage hits AG’s Office

Midlands Correspondent
THE Attorney General’s Office has been hit by a serious shortage of experienced law officers, many of whom are leaving for greener pastures.The AG’s Office has also been operating without an Attorney General since the enactment of the new constitution in 2013 after the office was separated from that of the Prosecutor-General (PG).

Former AG, Johannes Tomana, now heads the PG’s office leaving a vacancy in the   AG’s Office.

Vice President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa who also doubles as Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister said President Robert Mugabe is aware of the matter and will make the appointment soon.

The worst affected of the four AG departments is the legal drafting department which is now left with eight legal drafters out of the required staff complement of 20.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Virginia Mabiza said the state of affairs has resulted in the snail pace of aligning the country’s laws with the new supreme law.

She said the situation has been exacerbated by the recruitment freeze by government.

“On average if you look at legal drafting of bills which are brought before Parliament, you will need an experienced law officer with at least seven years experience, to draft meaningful bills to be taken before parliament. So at this point in time we are only left with eight experienced officers in that department against a staff establishment of about 20 law officers.

“This, to a greater extent, largely affects the way we operate especially when we are faced with the mammoth task of aligning our legislation with the constitution. This has been coupled with the freeze from the Civil Service Commission where we are not able to employ as much as we would wish because there are no sufficient resources,” she said.

Mabiza said the legal advisory department which advises government departments and the civil division were also hamstrung by human resources constraints.

The judiciary has in the past expressed reservations at the Attorney-General’s Office who are seconding junior law officers to appear in the Supreme and Constitutional Courts.

Mabiza conceded that most law officers are not qualified and experienced enough to appear before such highly esteemed courts.