POLITICS-LESOTHO: Mokhehle’s Death Ends An Era

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Gumisai Mutume

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 11 1999 (IPS) - The death of Ntsu Mokhehle, the former prime minister of Lesotho, marked the end of a political era in the tiny kingdom.

Analysts say Mokhehle influenced all aspects of political life in the country, and this continued, even after he retired from active politics in 1998. He had been declared life president of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party.

Mokhehle, who headed the government of Lesotho between 1993 and 1998, died on Jan. 6 at the age of 80, following a long illness.

In 1952, he founded the Bosotholand Congress Party (BCP) which was voted into office in April 1993, marking the restoration of multi-party civilian rule.

“The 1993 general election in Lesotho marked an important milestone in the country’s recent political history,” says Tsoeu Petlane of the National University of Lesotho. “Ending more than 20 years of political domination by the Basotho National Party, it gave the Basotho their first collective will to have a say in the composition of their government.”

Mokhehle’s accession virtually put an end to a defacto one- party state in Lesotho. He won the country’s first post- independence election in 1970, but was prevented from taking office when Leabua Jonathan seized power with the assistance of the army.

Jonathan declared the country to be on a five-year “holiday from politics” following the putch, effectively curtailing political activity in Lesotho.

Mokhehle, who had been instrumental in Lesotho’s independence from Britain in 1965, went into exile after the 1970 military coup to fight for his return to power.

The former prime minister can be counted among the first generation of post-independence African leaders, such as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, former president Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah.

These politicians participated in the liberation struggles of their countries and their names became synonymous with independence.

However, Mokhehle was also known for his collaboration with the South African apartheid regime at the end of the 1970s. In his attempts to gain power, he became party to Pretoria’s destabilisation policies in Lesotho.

“Mokhehle, in the words of a popular proverb, was ‘willing to ride on the back of a crocodile to cross the Mohokare’ (Caledon River),” says political scientist Rock Ajulu.

“Via Mokhehle’s BCP, Pretoria put together a proxy army, the Lesotho Liberation Army, as an armed wing attempting to come to power through a traditional liberation struggle,” adds Ajulu in a contribution to the publication ‘Democratisation and Demilitarisation in Lesotho’.

Nonetheless, Lesotho celebrated when he was declared winner of the 1993 elections. But not for long. He survived two coups after soldiers rebelled against him in 1994. Popular protests and strikes, and pressure from neighbouring countries ensured the coups were reversed.

The capital, Maseru, became locked in demonstrations in 1997 when Mokhehle bowed to internal pressures within his own ruling party and resigned. He formed the LCD and immediately transferred government powers to it.

“Mokhehle was one of the country’s most influential leaders, perhaps because he was seen by the ordinary Basotho as having brought independence,” says Motseoa Senyane of Lesotho’s Transformation Resource Centre, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which deals with issues of democracy and good governance.

“His party, the LCD, went ahead to win nearly all the seats” in the 1998 elections. These elections led to the current political crisis in Lesotho, which saw the capital Maseru razed to the ground and the intervention of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) military force, led by South Africa.

Opposition parties charged that the polls were rigged and demanded a fresh election, a process which the SADC intervention force is now overseeing.

Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe have been mandated to restore peace to the kingdom of two million people, which still remains a potential spark for regional insecurity.

Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. Only 13 percent of the country is suitable for agriculture and the economy is highly dependent on Pretoria, with 70 percent of rural household income coming from remittances from migrant workers in South Africa.