Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Johannes Tomana who died on Sunday, has been declared a national hero.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the decision at the Tomana residence in Glen Lorne, Harare where he had gone to console the family this Wednesday.
President Mnangagwa was accompanied by Vice President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga, ZANU PF Second Secretary Cde Kembo Mohadi, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Honourable Oppah Muchinguri – Kashiri, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Fredrick Shava and other senior government and ZANU PF officials.
The President, who worked with the late Tomana when he was Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, described the late diplomat as one of the finest legal practitioners to emerge from Zimbabwe.
“On Sunday I woke up around 7.30 that’s when I received a phone call from Vice President Chiwenga telling me that Tomana has died. I worked well and for a long time with Tomana and his wife since his days in the Attorney General’s office. He is the one who actually implemented the splitting of the two offices, the Attorney General and the Prosecutor’s office. After he was relieved from office, VP Chiwenga approached me and that’s when we agreed to appoint him as the DRC ambassador. He worked very well and would constantly brief me on what was happening in the DRC. I met him at church in Marange and that was the last time I saw him. We sat down as a party, and we agreed to accord him national hero status so that he will be interred at the National Heroes Acre,” said President Mnangagwa.
Born on the 9th of September in 1967, Ambassador Tomana was a lawyer by profession and distinguished himself in private practice.
Ambassador Tomana was appointed Attorney General in 2008 during the inclusive government era where he performed the dual role of leading the prosecution department and government advisory role.
The two were later split under the new Constitution that came into effect in 2013 when he became the country’s first Prosecutor General.
Ambassador Tomana was appointed into diplomatic service in September 2020 when he assumed the post of Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a position he held until the time of his death.