15 Facts About Michael Ramodibedi

Michael Mathealira Ramodibedi was a jurist from Lesotho who has served on the courts of several Commonwealth countries in Africa.

Michael Ramodibedi was the Chief Justice of Swaziland until 17 June 2015, when he was fired by King Mswati III for misconduct.

Michael Ramodibedi served on Lesotho's Land Policy Review Commission in 1999 and 2000.

Michael Ramodibedi joined the Court of Appeal of Lesotho as an acting judge in 2000 and a permanent judge in 2002.

Michael Ramodibedi became the President of the Court of Appeal of Seychelles in September 2004, while still sitting on the Court of Appeal of Lesotho.

In January 2006 Ramodibedi was named to the bench of the Court of Appeal of Botswana.

Michael Ramodibedi was named acting Chief Justice of Swaziland in 2010.

Nevertheless, Michael Ramodibedi was re-appointed as acting Chief Justice in 2012.

In 2013, in his capacity as President of the Lesotho Court of Appeal, Michael Ramodibedi chose not to invite any judges of the High Court of Lesotho to sit on the Court of Appeal; this meant that aside from Michael Ramodibedi, all the judges hearing Court of Appeal cases would be South African.

In remarks a few days later, Michael Ramodibedi made scathing criticisms of the High Court, blaming them for the low number of appeals enrolled for the Court of Appeal's 2013 session.

Michael Ramodibedi attributed this to the High Court's alleged long delays in delivering judgments, and further criticised the High Court for its refusal to make judges follow a monthly schedule of dates for case hearings and issuance of judgments, as was the practice in Botswana and Swaziland.

In September 2013, Michael Ramodibedi was suspended as the President of the Court of Appeal.

Michael Ramodibedi was accused of various misconduct, such as having his driver submit a false accident report to an insurance company after his son was allegedly involved in an accident with his car, and for claiming travel allowances to which he was not entitled.

Michael Ramodibedi did his secondary education at Eagle's Peak High School in Qacha's Nek, graduating in 1967.

Michael Ramodibedi received his law degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1974.