History of Lesotho Timeline

On March 12, 1868, the British Cabinet agreed to place the territory under British protection following Moshoeshoe's appeal to Queen Victoria, and the Boers were ordered to leave.

Image source: Basutoland

In February 1869, the British and the Boers agreed to the Convention of Aliwal North, defining the boundaries of the protectorate. By ceding western territories it effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size.

Image source: Sotho people

In 1871 the protectorate was annexed to the Cape Colony, beginning a period of administration from Cape Town that would prove contentious.

The population of Basutoland grew from around 125,000 in 1875, to 310,000 in 1901, and 349,000 by 1904, reflecting natural increase despite political turmoil.

Image source: Demographics of Lesotho

The British extended the Cape Peace Preservation Act of 1878 to cover Basutoland and attempted to disarm the natives, provoking widespread anger among the Basotho.

Image source: Basuto Gun War

The Basotho resisted British rule, and in 1879 a southern chief, Moorosi, rose in revolt against colonial authority.

Much of the colony rose in revolt in the Gun War (1880-1881), inflicting significant casualties upon the colonial British forces sent to subdue it. A peace treaty of 1881 failed to quell sporadic fighting.

Cape Town's inability to control the territory led to its return to crown control in 1884 as the Territory of Basutoland, administered directly by the British government.

When the Union of South Africa was founded in 1910, Basutoland was still controlled by the British, and moves were made to transfer it to the Union.

Image source: Union of South Africa

In 1916, Basutoland raised over £40,000 for the Allied war effort during the First World War.

Image source: Basutoland

Mobilization for the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps (AAPC) was launched in late July 1941, and by October 18,000 personnel had arrived in the Middle East to serve in World War II.

Image source: African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps

On May 1, 1943, the British troopship SS Erinpura was torpedoed and sunk, resulting in the loss of 694 men from AAPC's 1919th and 1927th Basuto Companies — the unit's worst loss of life during the war.

Image source: Erinpura

From 1948, the South African National Party put its apartheid policies into place, indirectly terminating any support among Basutos or UK colonial authorities for incorporating the country into South Africa.

Image source: Apartheid

After a 1955 request by the Basutoland Council to legislate its internal affairs, a new constitution in 1959 gave Basutoland its first elected legislature.

In April 1965, general legislative elections with universal adult suffrage were held; the Basotho National Party (BNP) won 31 seats and the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) won 25 of the 65 seats contested.

On October 4, 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Senate and an elected National Assembly.

Early results of the first post-independence elections in January 1970 indicated that the BNP might lose control, leading the ruling party to suspend the constitution and annul the results rather than cede power.

In 1973, an appointed Interim National Assembly was established in an effort to stabilize governance after the suspended elections.

Internal and external opposition combined to produce violence that led to a January 1986 military coup, forcing the BNP out of office after the BCP began an insurrection. A Military Council decree transferred executive and legislative powers to the King acting on the Council's advice.

Image source: 1986 Lesotho coup d'état

In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, who also purged the Council of Ministers.

Before the planned transition to civilian rule, Lekhanya announced a National Constituent Assembly to restore democracy by June 1992, but he was ousted in 1991 by a mutiny of junior army officers, leaving Phisoane Ramaema as Chairman of the Military Council.

In 1993, a new constitution was implemented, leaving the King without any executive authority and proscribing him from engaging in political affairs.

In early 1994, political instability increased as first the army, followed by the police and prison services, engaged in mutinies.

Conditions remained tumultuous, including an August 1994 self-coup by King Letsie III, who in collaboration with some members of the military staged a coup, suspended Parliament, and appointed a ruling council.

Image source: Letsie III

Moshoeshoe II returned to Lesotho in 1992 as a regular citizen, until 1995 when King Letsie abdicated the throne in favor of his father.

Image source: Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho

In 1995, there were isolated incidents of unrest, including a police strike in May to demand higher wages, though no serious challenges arose to Lesotho's constitutional order in 1995–96.

After Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996, King Letsie III ascended to the throne again.

In January 1997, armed soldiers put down a violent police mutiny and arrested the mutineers, restoring order within the security services.

In 1997, tension within the BCP leadership caused a split in which Dr. Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, reshaping the country's political landscape ahead of upcoming elections.

Image source: Basutoland Congress Party

Multiparty elections were again held in May 1998, and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy came to power in elections that were deemed fair by international observers, though opposition parties disputed the results.

Image source: 1998 Lesotho general election

The protests culminated in a violent demonstration outside the royal palace in early August 1998 and an unprecedented level of violence, looting, casualties, and destruction of property in the capital.

A joint force consisting of South African and later Botswana troops entered Lesotho on September 22, 1998, to put down the mutiny and restore the democratically elected government.

An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure, was created in December 1998 and devised a proportional electoral system to ensure opposition representation in the National Assembly.

After stability returned to Lesotho, the SADC task force withdrew in May 1999, leaving only a small force, later joined by Zimbabwean troops, to provide training to the Lesotho Defence Force.

Elections were held under the new proportional system in May 2002, and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy won again, gaining 54% of the vote.

In June 2014, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended parliament because of conflict within his coalition, leading to criticisms that he was undermining the government.

Image source: Tom Thabane

On May 19, 2020, Thomas Thabane formally stepped down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure after he was named as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife.

In June 2022, in protests against neoliberal and fiscal austerity policies promoting cuts in public education resources, Lesotho students were killed on the campus of the National University of Lesotho in repression carried out by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service.

Image source: National University of Lesotho

On October 28, 2022, Sam Matekane was sworn in as Lesotho's new prime minister after forming a new coalition government following elections that year.

Image source: Sam Matekane