Dar es Salaam: Former CJ Ramadhani enlisted to solve Lesotho judiciary Crisis

By The Citizen Reporter, Dar es Salaam. 

Former Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani is one of three retired top judges whose expertise has been sought to solve a crisis in Lesotho’s judiciary.

Mr Ramadhani joined former South African Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo and their Botswana counterpart Julian Nganunu in a fact-finding mission in Lesotho last week as part of efforts to solve the crisis that pits the president of the Court of Appeal Justice Michael Ramodibedi and Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla. Mr Ramadhani told The Citizen that the team of three has been commissioned by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) who were alarmed by the failure of the Court of Appeal to hold a session in January because of the dispute.

After a weeklong mission in Lesotho where they met prime minister Thomas Thabane, the president of the Law Society, Mr Monaheng Rasekoai, and president of the Lawyers for Human Rights Zwelakhe Mda, they will compile a report that would be submitted to the government for action. They also met high court judges, MPs, civil society leaders and several newspaper editors.

The nature of the dispute, termed by the Law Society of Lesotho as a “constitutional crisis,” is not yet fully known but the two principals in the judiciary system in Lesotho are not on the best working terms. The dispute has been raging for years and reached a boiling point in January when the Lesotho Appellate Court was forced to cancel a special session after Justice Lehohla refused to allow High Court judges to hear cases in the Court of Appeal.

Justice Ramodibedi had requested that some High Court judges be allowed to hear appeals because those working in the Court of Appeal, who are all South African, had said they were on holiday.

When Justice Lehohla refused to release the judges, Justice Ramodibedi turned to two acting judges. However, the Chief Justice ordered the two judges no to hear the cases, forcing Justice Ramodibedi to cancel the session.

The action left litigants in the six cases that were set to be heard during the session stranded. The former Chief Justices team is headed by Justice Ngcobo.

The dispute has been raging for years and reached a boiling point in January when the Lesotho Appellate Court was forced to cancel a special session after Justice Lehohla refused to allow High Court judges to hear cases in the Court of Appeal.

Source: The Citizen (11/03/2013): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/29545-former-cj-ramadhani-enlisted-to-solve-lesotho-judiciary-crisis