Constitutional orders and the struggle for the control of the State in Lesotho from 1966 to 1989

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Periodical article

Title:	Constitutional orders and the struggle for the control of the State in Lesotho from 1966 to 1989
Author:	Mahao, Nqosa Leuta
Year:	1991
Periodical:	Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development (ISSN 0255-6472)
Volume:	7
Issue:	2
Pages:	1-19
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Lesotho Southern Africa
Subjects:	political conditions constitutional reform 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 politics constitutions Power (Social sciences) history
Abstract:	Within four years the constitution bequeathed Lesotho at independence in 1966 had been abrogated. Since then, a series of constitutional decrees have replaced one another. Conventional wisdom identifies the 1970 seizure of power by Chief Leabua Jonathan, the then Prime Minister, as the genesis of Lesotho's constitutional crisis. The present author seeks to transcend such a single event theory by investigating the relationship between constitutional orders and power relationships in Lesotho. He argues that underlying the country's system of political order are deep-rooted conflicts which feed on sectarian interests. It is as a result of the pursuit of such interests that the constitutional order becomes either a commodity of secondary importance or actually an instrument for procuring those interests. The article takes a historical approach, tracing political and constitutional developments from the eve of independence in 1966 to 1989 in this context. Notes, ref.