Justice Mathealira Ramodibedi took oath of office as the President of the Court of Appeal of Lesotho at the swearing-in ceremony held at the Royal Palace in Maseru on Wednesday.

The ceremony was administered by Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla. The event follows Justice Ramodibedi's appointment into office as the first Mosotho President of the Court of Appeal of Lesotho in May this year.

He succeeds Justice Jan Hendrick Steyn, who retired from active legal practice in Lesotho earlier this year.

His Majesty King Letsie III and Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Representatives of the Diplomatic Corps in Lesotho and high ranking officials in the Law fraternity witnessed the oath-taking-ceremony.

Justice Ramodibedi was born on April 24 in 1945 and obtained his LLB degree in 1974 at Edinburgh University.

Since, then he practiced law for ten years and admitted in 1984 as an Attorney for 12 years.

In 1996 he was appointed Judge of the High Court and appointed a permanent Judge of Appeal in the Appeal court of Lesotho in 2002, while in 2004 he was appointed President of the court of appeal in Seychelles.

He also served as the Justice of Appeal in Botswana and Swaziland in 2006. He had also served in numerous national commissions as the chairman and as a member of institutions such as the Council of State and member of Court-Martial Appeal court.

Source: LENA 18/06/2008