Tanzania: Augustino Ramadhani, Ex-CJ: My hands were tied

Dar es Salaam. Former Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani, who in 2010 led a panel of seven judges to disallow private candidates to contest elections, now says he is in full support of the arrangement.

The former CJ then had to contend with a wave of criticism from lawyers over the decision, which they widely believe was politically motivated.

The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), for which the former CJ is vice-chairman, has released the first draft Constitution proposing, among other things, allowing independent candidates to contest grassroots and presidential elections.

Former CJ Ramadhani told The Citizen on Sunday that the decision he made along with colleagues in 2010 was not based on a personal opinion, but completely legal and technical.

“I was not against the idea of independent candidates then and even now. In fact, I support the system completely. Our hands in that court were tied to decide as per Constitution and arguments that arose from the parties,” said the former CJ.

Justice Ramadhani said that the main argument for siding with the Attorney General, who was representing the government, to oppose the proposed new system, was that the Court of Appeal does not have the jurisdiction to amend provisions of the Constitution which barred independent candidacy.

The only body with powers to amend the Constitution is the Parliament, he said.

“The panel that I headed in 2010 put things very clearly, the court did not have legal powers to say independent candidates are allowed. We said the issue had to be settled by the Parliament, which has legal powers to amend the Constitution,” he explained.

Source: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/-/1840392/1876752/-/evp8wwz/-/index.html