Ex-CJ to be ordained as priest at the Church of Christ Anglican Cathedral in Zanzibar

RETIRED Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani will be ordained as priest at the Church of Christ Anglican Cathedral in Zanzibar on Sunday.

“The day will not only be memorable for the ordination, but his birthday too as he will be celebrating his 68th birthday,” said one of his family members.

A career soldier and lawyer, the former CJ is a renowned pianist in the church choir at St Alban’s Anglican Cathedral in downtown Dar es Salaam where he regularly worships.

A statement issued by the church said that ‘’because of his submissive nature towards God and his need to seek his presence,’’ he was ordained as a deacon earlier this year at the same church located at Mkunazini in the municipality by Bishop Michael Hafidh.

Justice Ramadhani will be stationed in Zanzibar soon after the ordination where he is to serve at the Mkunazini cathedral, a family source said. The retired CJ was born in Zanzibar on December 28, 1945 in a Christian family of Anglican domination with seven siblings.

He graduated in law at the University of Dar es Saalam in 1970 and after serving in the army for a number of years, was in 1978 appointed Deputy Attorney General by then Zanzibar President Aboud Jumbe.

In October of the same year, he was appointed the Chief Justice of Zanzibar, before returning to the army where he took part in the Uganda war of liberation.

Upon returning back from the war he was re-appointed Chief Justice and promoted to rank of Lieutenant colonel. On June 23, 1989, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal before later being appointed the Chief Justice of Tanzania.

In January 1993, he was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). Later in October 2002, he became the Vice-Chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) for a fiveyear term that ended in October 2010.

He had also served as judge in the East African Court of Appeal. He retired as chief justice of Tanzania in 2010. The current Chief Justice, Mr Mohamed Chande Othman, succeeded him.

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