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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
research
Theory, Practice and DFI Institutional Design: Case of the Lesotho National Development Corporation
07.09.2025 17:06
research
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
Land Entitlement and the Right to Development in Lesotho
19.01.2026 10:32
research
The Trajectory of Contemporary Governance in Lesotho: A Transition towards Coalition Government
This paper examines the success story of the formation of coalition government in Lesotho. Lesotho has since 1970 experienced a chequered history of authoritarian and military rules until 1993 when the country went democratic. Interestingly, within two decades of the country ’s multiparty democratic experience, it has experimented with multiple governmental systems viz; in 1993 1998, it adopted First Past the Post or winner takes all model, and then in 2001, it adopted Mixed Member Proportion model, which brought some stability within the unitary parliamentary governance. In 2012 the latter model gave impetus to a new model of coalition government. Unfortunately, however, the three-party coalition government was interrupted in 20 14 by a military adventurism which gave rise to the 2015 nap elections that led to another seven-party coalition government. Interestingly, another faction occurred from the seven-party coalition and a vote of no confidence was passed by the opposition against the ruling coalition, which led to the early 2017 elections. The third coalition governance of four parties was established after the elections and took its term of five years before the elections of October 2022 that established a “of three parties coalition under the leadership of a prominent businessman. This paper posits that although coalition model has been accepted by the Lesotho people, however, it has come with increasing cost on executive expenditure, as it puts great burden on taxpayers. This paper recommends the inclusion in the democratic discourse (conversation), a blend of the western democratic culture with traditional African culture in administering the affairs of the state since the two are not mutually exclusive.
Nomazulu Ngozwana