Former PG Hodzi Suffers Double Stroke, Depression
Former Prosecutor General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi was reportedly forced to resign by officials from the President and Cabinet (OPC) and senior officials from the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for alleged incompetence and corruption.
New Zimbabwe reported official and security sources as saying Hodzi had been under pressure since December last year when a dossier, accusing him of corruption and incompetence, was submitted to the OPC and Justice ministry.
The dossier contained information obtained from members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Judicial Service Commission and lawyers.
As a result, Hodzi reportedly experienced serious mental health issues before suffering two major strokes last week.
The OPC announced on Tuesday that Hodzi resigned with immediate effect due to ill health but did not give details.
Sources told New Zimbabwe that Hodzi was being tormented by senior officials from the Ministry of Justice and had stopped coming to work in the second week of February. Said a source:
What actually happened is that sometime in December, a dossier highly critical of his performance as PG was submitted to the OPC and he has been under great pressure since then.
This document was produced anonymously from information gathered from the NPA officials and the legal fraternity. Even judges and magistrates are said to have contributed.
There were also allegations of corruption against him and the OPC has been on his case since then.
The main issue was that of incompetence and questions regarding his fitness for office.
So it really took a toll on his mental and physical health, to the extent that he could at times be seen talking to himself at work, which led to rumours within the corridors that he had lost his mind throughout this period.
It got really worse towards the end of January and, by the second week, he could not come to work.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed Hodzi PG in 2019 even though he was not among the top three performers during public interviews conducted by the JSC as was required by the law.
Hodzi’s incompetence was to be exposed later, with High Court Justice Tawanda Chitapi telling him “to go back to the law school” after he blundered in a bail appeal in a high-profile robbery case.
