Three Tipped for Chief Justice Post
Dec, 20, 2010
DAR ES SALAAM
With barely a week before Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani leaves office, the search for his successor has reportedly been narrowed down to three names, from whom President Jakaya Kikwete will pick the new holder of the top judicial position.
The Citizen on Sunday established that the three are 58-year-old Mr Justice Mohamed Othman Chande, Mr Justice Bernard Luanda, 57, and Mr Justice Steven Bwana, 61. One of them will most likely land the top job, barring a surprise from the President, whose prerogative it is to appoint the holder of that office.
Mr Justice Ramadhani, who has attained the official retirement age of 65, was appointed CJ in 2007. He will officially be bade farewell in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Impeccable government sources told The Citizen on Sun day that the next CJ would be sworn in on December 27.
People close to the screening process to fill the post, whose hold automatically becomes the head of the Court of Appeal, said there was strong lobbying from outside the judicial circles for one of the possible candidates. Sources said Mr Justice Chande was highly tipped to replace Chief Justice Ramadhani.
Traditionally, it is the outgoing CJ, who recommends three people for appointment from amongst judges of the Court of Appeal to the President, who, in consultation with the National Intelligence and Security Service (TISS), makes his pick.
Insiders said that this time around, there was evident lobbying for the position, with different groups advancing various reasons, including age, and health status, in lobbying for the candidate of their choice.
Mr Justice Chande is currently a senior adviser to the United Nations on Human Rights. As a former chief of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Prosecutions and ex-prosecutor of East Timor's UN administration, he boasts rich international experience and exposure in the management of judicial affairs.
He is also said to enjoy good relations with some influential personalities in government. Mr Justice Chande is a younger brother of the current TISS director, Mr Rashid Othman.
Sources said judges Luanda and Bwana enjoy the backing of most of their colleagues in the Judiciary, have excellent credentials and track records, boosting their chances of catching President Kikwete's eye.
Mr Justice Luanda, who started his career as a resident magistrate in 1975, became the registrar of the Court of Appeal in 1997, during the reign of Chief Justice Francis Nyalali. He is said to have enormous experience in management.
He worked as a coordinator at the Judicial Institute at the Institute of Development and Management (IDM) at Mzumbe for eight years from 1990, before he became the registrar, was later appointed judge of the High Court and after a while, promoted to the Court of Appeal.
He is praised for steering Judiciary well, as the registrar at a time when there was little in terms of allocation of funds from the government.
He is currently the regional vice-president for the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA) for East, Central and Southern Africa.
He is described by his peers as hard-working and is liked by many, reportedly for not aligning himself to rival groups within the Judiciary. "His record is good. He has a clean sheet and is also a good researcher. Most of the other judges view him as a man who can overhaul the Judiciary, which is struggling to restore its reputation that has been tainted by corruption allegations," one of the sources said.
Mr Justice Bwana is also said to possess the qualifications needed for the post of CJ. He started his career as a junior judicial officer and later attained a PhD in law. He has also a reputation as a hard-working professional, who abhors delays in making decisions. Judge Bwarna is said to have won the confidence of the outgoing CJ.
He served as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Seychelles for five years from 1994, in a judicial exchange programme with Tanzania, but was later recalled.
Judge Bwana has been a judge of the Court of Appeal since 2008. He graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam and with a bachelor of law degree in 1974. He obtained his master's degree in Law in 1988, in Rome, and a PhD in 1992, also from Italy.
Gender
There has been talk of the possibility of picking a woman Chief Justice, who would be first to hold the position in the country's history.
One of the most respected judges in Tanzania, Lady Justice Eusebia Munuo, is said to have been widely tipped for the post before the centre of attention shifted when other considerations took centre stage.
Judge Munuo is a founding member of Tanzania Women Judges Association (TWJA). She is also the president-elect of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). She is said credited with the capability of handling complex matters in the Judiciary.
She joined the Judiciary in 1970, as a magistrate, and worked her way up through the ranks. She was appointed judge of the High Court in 1987, a position she occupied until the end of August 2002, when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal
Lady Justice Munuo has distinguished herself with an impeccable career during her 30 years in the judicial service. Earlier, there was a speculation that the President could extend her tenure that reportedly expires next year and pick her for the CJ's post.
Source: Sunday Citizen