Attorney-General of Zimbabwe

The Office of the Attorney-General of Zimbabwe (AG) falls under the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Zimbabwe. The Attorney-General is the chief legal advisor of the government of Zimbabwe.

Attorney-General of Zimbabwe
Gweta Guru reHurumende (Shona) UGqwethanhloko (Northern Ndebele)
Incumbent Virginia Mabiza since 1 November 2023
Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Member of	Cabinet of Zimbabwe Parliament of Zimbabwe Judicial Service Commission
Reports to	The President
Seat	Mgandane Dlodlo Building, Harare
Appointer	The President
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Zimbabwe
Precursor	Minister of Justice
Inaugural holder	Ahmed Ebrahim
Formation	1980
Website	attorneygeneral.org.zw

Historically the Attorney-General sat as a member of the Senate, but under the current Constitution may sit and speak in either the Senate or the National Assembly, but may not vote. The Attorney-General may also attend Cabinet - but has no vote on Cabinet matters - and, with the leave of the court concerned, appear as a friend of the court in any civil proceedings to which the Government is not a party.^[1]

The current Attorney-General since 2023 is Virginia Mabiza, the first woman to hold the position.^[2][3]

History

Ahmed Ebrahim, appointed by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, was the first Attorney-General of Zimbabwe.^[4]

Following the implementation of the new Constitution in 2013, the prosecuting and government advisory roles of the Attorney-General were split, and a new office of Prosecutor-General was established. In November 2013, the then-Attorney-General Johannes Tomana was appointed the first Prosecutor-General, and the post of Attorney-General remained vacant until the appointment of Prince Machaya in February 2015.^[5] Machaya had been serving as Deputy Attorney-General during this vacancy.

List of attorneys-general

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Appointed by
1	Ahmed Ebrahim	1980	1982	ZANU–PF	Canaan Banana
2	Godfrey Chidyausiku	1982	1989	ZANU–PF
3	Patrick Chinamasa	26 April 1989[6]	2000	ZANU–PF	Robert Mugabe
4	Andrew Chigovera	July 2000	April 2003	ZANU–PF
–	Bharat Patel Acting	April 2003	2006
5	Sobusa Gula-Ndebele	2006	15 December 2007	ZANU–PF
–	Bharat Patel Acting	May 2008	December 2008
6	Johannes Tomana	3 March 2009	November 2013	ZANU–PF
Following the implementation of the new Constitution in 2013, the prosecuting powers of the Attorney-General were transferred to the new office of Prosecutor-General. Tomana was appointed to the new role of Prosecutor-General, and the office of Attorney-General remained vacant until the appointment of Machaya in February 2015.
7	Prince Machaya	February 2015	October 2023	ZANU–PF
8	Virginia Mabhiza	1 November 2023			Emmerson Mnangagwa

List of prosecutors-general

• Johannes Tomana, November 2013 – June 2017
• Ray Gaba (acting), June 2017 –