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A historical context of Lesotho’s integration into the 1910 customs union agreement, 1870s-1910
19.01.2026 10:21
research
The Trajectory of Contemporary Governance in Lesotho: A Transition towards Coalition Government
07.09.2025 17:24
research
Tapping into the Political Assets of Basotho Traditional Religion: In Search of Political Stability in Lesotho
07.09.2025 17:14
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Theory, Practice and DFI Institutional Design: Case of the Lesotho National Development Corporation
07.09.2025 17:06
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Lesotho Sovereignty Index (Burke Index), 2024-2025
07.09.2025 15:10
research
A HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF LESOTHO’S INTEGRATION INTO THE 1910 CUSTOMS UNION AGREEMENT, 1870s-1910s
This paper chronicles the historical context of Lesotho’s (then Basutoland) integration into the 1910 Customs Union Agreement. The paper examines the period of colonisation, colonial state-making and integration of Lesotho into the regional market economy that emerged after the discovery of minerals in modern-day South Africa (1870s-1910s). Using historical sources, it explores changing regional politics, conditions, economic formations, and social order in the second half of the nineteenth century. The paper argues that the British’s integration of Lesotho into the customs union must be situated within shifting regional politics and power dynamics of this period. On the one hand, the British integrated the country into the customs union as part of its long-term plan to ultimately incorporate Lesotho into South Africa. Along with colonial tax, the inclusion of Lesotho into the customs union was, at the time, a temporary measure to solve the problems of lack of viable economic options towards financing the colonial administration before the country could finally be incorporated into South Africa. On the other hand, the paper advances that the sequence of events leading to the integration of Lesotho as well as the role that the Basotho played, and their resistance to British imperial policy, contributed significantly in shaping the nature of integration into the customs union in 1910. Due to the Basotho’s history of alliance formation and resistance, the British were forced to cautiously approach the subject of incorporation. As a corollary to this, they had to acknowledge Lesotho as a geopolitical entity while claiming suzerainty and economic control.
Prosecutorial Independence in Lesotho: A Critique of the Model
07.09.2025 15:29
research
Land Entitlement and the Right to Development in Lesotho
This article explores the question of land entitlement in Lesotho in relation to the right to development enshrined in the African Charter. The Charter guarantees that the right to development is to be achieved with due regard to ‘the equal enjoyment of the common heritage’. The article argues that land is a common heritage, which ought to be utilised in a manner that meets a people’s collective aspirations for socio-economic and cultural development. The article enquires how and to what extent the statutory and customary law regimes in Lesotho guarantee entitlement to the land as a common heritage, from the standpoint of law.
The Trajectory of Contemporary Governance in Lesotho: A Transition towards Coalition Government
