CHIEF JUSTICE DEFENDS COURT OF APPEAL DECISION ON INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES

Chief Justice: Independent candidate verdict valid
BY DOMINIC NKOLIMWAm THE GUARDIAN,TANZANIA,31st July 2010

Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani addresses a ``Change Your Destiny Conference`` at the University of Dar es Salaam`s Mabibo Hostel grounds yesterday. (Photo: Khalfan Said)

Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani has said the Court of Appeal was not influenced by the government in its recent ruling on the independent candidate case.

The CJ made the clarification shortly after addressing an international religious conference attended by students from various higher learning institutions. It was held at Dar es Salaam University (UDSM) Mabibo Hostel.


Responding to reporters’ questions, Chief Justice said the panel of the Appeal Court reached the decision on the independent candidate case without any influence from the government.


In its ruling, the Appeal Court said it had no jurisdiction to determine the case on the independent candidate, “as the matter was not a legal but a political one, which should be settled by the Parliament and not courts.”


“But what I want to clarify here is that the court made its decision in accordance with the laws of the country,” he said, adding: “It is true the matter drew public attention and most of the people did not expect the outcome of the case. But the public must understand that the government did not influence the court.”

According to CJ Ramadhani, the President had never called him or any member of the Appeal Court panel with the intention of trying to twist proceedings of the court.

He criticised the media for blindly reporting the issue of private candidates without clearly understanding what the law said about it.

“The media failed to understand that such a matter is a political issue, which should be settled by the Parliament and not courts of law. Sending the matter to the Parliament was a wise decision,” Ramadhani explained.


He noted that the mater was now in the hands of the State Attorney who is supposed to present it to the Parliament, which had powers of effecting amendments to the country’s Constitution. “It is not the duty of the court to change articles of the Constitution,” he said.

The recent ruling by the Appeal Court has sparked debate with lawyers, politicians and academicians challenging the decision as unfair.


Lawyers, who met in Dar es Salaam recently to discuss the issue, called on the judiciary to revisit its ruling.

They made the call in Dar es Salaam at a roundtable consultation organised by the Tanganyika Law Society with the theme: “The Court of Appeal Judgment in the Attorney General and Christopher Mtikila ramifications, rule of law and international justice in Tanzania”.


Prof Gamaliel Mgongo Fimbo, a long-serving lawyer and law lecturer, described as “a disaster” the June 17 Court of Appeal ruling that the issue of allowing or blocking the participation of private candidates in the country’s elections could only be conclusively dealt with by the Parliament.


Other panel members were Eusebia Munuo, January Msoffe, Natalia Kimaro, Mbaruku Mbaruku, Bernard Luanda and Sauda Mjasiri.


Declaring that the issue was political and not legal, the judges quashed and set aside an earlier High Court ruling allowing private candidates to run for office in civic, legislative and presidential elections.