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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES LESOTHO
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - LESOTHO

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1992
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | LESOTHO

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BACKGROUND NOTES:  LESOTHO

OFFICIAL NAME:  KINGDOM OF LESOTHO

PROFILE
Geography
Area:  30,350 sq. km. (11,718 sq. mi.); about the size of Maryland.
Cities:  Capital-Maseru (pop. 109,382).  Other cities-Teyateyaneng
(14,251), Leribe (9,595), Mafeteng (12,667), Mohale's Hoek (8,526).
Terrain:  High veld, plateau and mountains.  Climate:  Temperate;
summers hot, winters cool to cold; humidity generally low and
evenings cool year round.  Rainy season in summer, winters dry.


People
Nationality:  Noun-Mosotho (sing.); Basotho (pl.) Adjective-Basotho.
Population (1988):  1,666,000.  Annual growth rate (1987):  2.7%.
Ethnic groups:  Basotho 99.7%; Europeans 1,700; Asians, 900.
Religions:  Roman Catholic (majority), Lesotho Evangelical, Anglican,
other denominations.  Languages:  English, Sesotho.  Education:
Years compulsory-None.  Literacy-59%.  Health:  Infant mortality rate
(1988)-83/1000.  Life expectancy-60 years.  Work force-650,000.
Farming-40%.  Manufacturing and services-6%.  Government-4%.
Migrant workers-27%.  Unemployed-23%.


Government
Type:  Military regime and constitutional monarchy with king as head
of state.  Constitution:  Suspended in 1970.  Independence:  October
4, 1966.

Branches:  Executive-Military council/civilian cabinet.  Legislative-In
early 1986, by decree of the ruling military council, legislative (and
executive) power was concentrated in the person of the king, subject
to the advice of the military council.  Judicial-Court of Appeals, High
Court, Magistrate Courts, Customary Courts.

Administrative subdivisions:  10 districts.

Political parties:  By decree of the ruling military council in early 1986,
political activities, but not political parties, were banned indefinitely;
Basotho National Party (BNP), Basutoland Congress Party (BCP),
Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), United Democratic Party (UDP).
Suffrage:  Married men and women of all ages, singles over 21.  No
national elections since 1970.

Central government budget (1988-89):  $226.8 million.

Public order, safety, and defense (1988-89):  18% of government
budget.

Flag:  Diagonal fields of green and blue with a traditional Basotho
shield on a diagonal field of white occupying remaining half of flag.


Economy
GNP (1988):  $739 million.  Annual growth rate (1987-88):  8.5%.  Per
capita GNP:  $446.  Avg. inflation rate (1988):  11.4%.

Natural resources:  Some diamonds and other minerals, water,
agricultural and grazing land.

Agriculture (20% of GDP):  Products-corn, wheat sorghum, peas,
beans, asparagus, meat, wool, mohair.  Arable land-13%.

Industry (14.6% of GDP):  Types-Processing of agricultural products,
handicrafts, cottage industry weaving, apparel manufacture (clothing,
shoes etc.), primarily for export.

Trade (1988):  Exports-$60 million:  wool, mohair, peas, beans,
asparagus.  Major markets-South Africa (approximately 85%),
Europe, US.  Imports-$500 million:  agricultural commodities and
products, manufactured goods of all types, machinery.  Major
suppliers-South Africa (approximately 95%), Europe.

Fiscal year:  April 1-March 31.

Economic aid received (1987):  $74 million.  Primary donors-US,
EEC, FRG, UK, World Bank, UNDP, Ireland.  US AID-$9.6 million.


Membership in International Organizations
UN and some of its specialized and related agencies, including the
World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); Commonwealth, Nonaligned
Movement, Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Group of 77.
Regional groups: Southern African Development Coordination
Conference (SADCC), the Southern African Customs Union (SACU),
the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) of East and Southern Africa States,
and the Rand Monetary Area (RMA).


HISTORY
Basutoland (now Lesotho-pronounced le-SOO-too) was sparsely
populated by bushmen (Qhuaique) until the end of the 16th century.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, refugees from surrounding
areas gradually formed the Basotho ethnic group.

In 1818, Moshoeshoe (pronounced mo-SHWAY-shway) I,
consolidated various Basotho groupings and became their king.
During his reign (1823-1870), a series of wars with South Africa
(1856-68) resulted in the loss of extensive lands, now known as the
"Lost Territory."  Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria for
assistance, and in 1868, the country was placed under British
protection.

In 1955, the Basutoland Council asked that it be empowered to
legislate on internal affairs, and in 1959, a new constitution gave
Basutoland its first elected legislature.  General elections with
universal adult suffrage were held in April 1965.  The Basutoland
National Party (BNP) won 31 of 60 seats in the legislature; the
Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), 25 seats; and the Maramatlou
Freedom Party (MFP), 4 seats.  On October 4, 1966, the new
Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence as a constitutional
monarchy with an elected bicameral parliament consisting of a
60-seat National Assembly and a 33-seat Senate.

Early results of the January 27, 1970, election-the first held after
independence-indicated that the ruling BNP might lose control.
Citing election irregularities, Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan nullified
the elections, declared a national state of emergency, suspended the
constitution, and dissolved the parliament.  An appointed interim
national assembly was established in 1973.  With an overwhelming
progovernment majority, it was largely the instrument of the BNP, led
by Prime Minister Jonathan.  Opposition to the government produced
violence and internal disorder which, in 1986, led to a military
takeover.  In addition to the Jonathan regime's alienation of Basotho
power brokers and the population, South Africa had virtually closed
the land borders because of concerns over African National
Congress (ANC) cross-border operations and was publicly
threatening more direct action if the Jonathan government did not
root out ANC presence in Lesotho.

Under a January 1986 Military Council decree, the state executive
and legislative powers were given to the king.  He was to act on the
advice of the Military Council, a self-appointed group of the leaders
of the Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF) who carried out the
1986 coup.  All political party activity was suspended.  A military
government chaired by Justin Lekhanya ruled Lesotho in
coordination with King Moshoeshoe II and a civilian cabinet
appointed by the king.

In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive
and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, and some members
of the Military Council and the Council of Ministers were purged.
Lekhanya accused those involved of undermining discipline within the
armed forces, subverting existing authority, and causing an impasse
on foreign policy which had been damaging to Lesotho's image
abroad.  Lekhanya announced the establishment of a National
Constituent Assembly to formulate a new constitution for Lesotho
with the aim of returning the country to democratic, civilian rule by
June 1992.

After attempts at negotiating the king's return to Lesotho failed,
Lekhanya announced in November 1990 that a new law would
henceforth provide that the king shall be a constitutional monarch
and head of state and that King Moshoeshoe had ceased being king
and head of state.  Later that month, Moshoeshoe's son was
installed as King Letsie III.


GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Lesotho is ruled by a military council and has a military/civilian
cabinet.  The Military Council sets broad outlines of government
policy and overseas policy implementation carried out by the cabinet
(Council of Ministers).  Political party activity is still suspended, and
there have been no national elections since 1970.  By the 1986
Military Council decree, legislative and executive power had been
concentrated in the person of the king, but then-King Moshoeshoe
II was stripped of his powers in February 1990.  The cabinet,
consisting of civilians and several senior RLDF officers, had been
appointed by the king.

In February 1990, the military government established a task force
to work out the details of democratizing the country.  The task force
recommended the establishment of a 109-member National
Constituent Assembly representing a broad range of social and
political opinion.  Development of a new national constitution
acceptable to the majority of the Basotho people is the major task of
the assembly, but it was also charged with reviewing the position and
powers of the king, the status of the traditional chieftainships, and
the role of the army and political parties under a new constitution.
The National Constituent Assembly convened in June 1990.

For administrative purposes, Lesotho is divided into 10 districts, each
headed by a district secretary and a district military officer appointed
by the central government and the RLDF, respectively.

Lesotho's highest court is the Court of Appeals, which exercises
limited appellate jurisdiction.  The High Court has unlimited original
jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters.  Subordinate courts
administer statute law, and paramount chiefs administer customary
tribal laws.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State-King Letsie III
Head of Government and Chairman of the Military Council and
Council of Ministers-Maj. Gen. Justin M. Lekhanya
Military Council Members-Brig. Benedict M. Lerotholi, Col. Jacob M.
Jane, Col. Elias P. Ramaema, Lt. Col. Ernest M. Mokete, Col.
Michael N. Ts'otetsi
Ambassador to the United States-William Thabo Van Tonder
Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United
Nations-M.P. Phoofolo

Lesotho maintains an embassy in the United States at 2511
Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008 (Tel. [phone]).
Lesotho's mission to the United Nations is at 204 East 39th Street,
NY, NY 10016 (Tel. [phone]).


DEFENSE
The Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF) is the primary armed
service in the country.  Made up of about 2,000
officers and enlisted men and women, the RLDF is administratively
based in the capital city Maseru with smaller tactical bases scattered
throughout the country.  The RLDF has six separate light infantry
companies and a small composite air squadron.  The RLDF's
principal mission includes defense of Lesotho's borders and
antiterrorist activities.  It also has responsibility for crime prevention
(along with the nearly 2,000 members of the Royal Lesotho Mounted
Police Force) and civic action programs.

The United States has an active International Military Education and
Training (IMET) program with the government of Lesotho.  The IMET
program sends three or four RLDF officers each year to the United
States in various military specialties.  A three-man British army
training team is assigned to Lesotho and provides a range of
in-country training.


ECONOMY
Lesotho's economy is based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing,
and earnings of laborers employed in South Africa.  The people of
Lesotho live primarily in the western lowlands, the main agricultural
zone.  Much of the work force is employed from 3 to 9 months a
year in South Africa in mining, farming, or industry.  At any given
time, an estimated 200,000 workers are absent from Lesotho.
Remittances from workers in South Africa totaled about $235 million
in 1988.

About 360,000 hectares (900,000 acres-13%) of the country are
arable.  Grazing rights are communal, but arable land is allocated to
individuals and families by village and district chiefs.  Traditionally,
most land was held in trust for the Basotho by the king and could
not be given away.  Under the 1979 Land Tenure Act, however, the
king could grant 99-year leases.  Almost all agricultural produce is
consumed domestically, and substantial amounts of food are
imported from South Africa.

The Lesotho National Development Corporation encourages foreign
investment.  The corporation has been successful in stimulating the
establishment of light industries and in attracting investment in tourist
facilities, including building a $12 million hotel.  Tourism is an
attractive development option because of the country's scenery and
healthful, pleasant climate.

The three-phase Highlands Water Project agreement signed in late
1986 between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho
represents one of the greatest investment and development
opportunities for Lesotho in the near future.  Royalties, beginning in
1995 at about $12 million and tripling in the third phase, could be
directed toward substantially raising the per capita GDP.  The project
is a 30-year, $2 billion plan to divert water from the headwaters of
several major river systems in Lesotho to the Witswatersrand region
of South Africa.  Spin-off activities in road building, rural agriculture,
electricity generation, fishing, and tourism will also be made possible.
The project will be financed by international lenders, including the
World Bank, as well as by South African and Lesotho capital.

Lesotho has received economic assistance from a number of
sources since independence, including the United States, the World
Bank, the United Kingdom, the European Economic Community,
Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the Federal Republic of
Germany, and South Africa.  Several UN specialized agencies and
programs are active in Lesotho, including the UN Development
Program, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture
Organization, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Lesotho has about 4,000 kilometers (2,400 mi) of paved, gravel, and
earth roads and vehicle tracks.  A 92-kilometer (57-mi.) road along
Lesotho's southern border was built with the help of the US Agency
for International Development (AID).  Lesotho has an extensive
network of horse trails for areas inaccessible to motor vehicles.

The country is linked with South Africa by a short rail line from
Maseru to Marseilles on the Bloemfontein-Bethlehem line.
Elsewhere, the railway runs close to the territorial boundary, and
goods can be transported by road to and from the nearest station in
the Orange Free State.  Lesotho's traditional trade routes were
complicated by the October 1976 South Africa-sponsored
"independence" of the Transkei, which neither Lesotho nor any other
UN member recognizes and whose territory Lesotho does not wish
to transit.

Lesotho depends heavily on South Africa for trade as well as
employment.  Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia, and South
Africa belong to a customs union.  No tariffs exist on most goods
moving among them.  South Africa levies and collects most of the
customs, sales, and excise duties for the four countries, and it pays
a share determined by a formula of total customs collections to the
other three countries.  Imports from outside the customs union,
regardless of ultimate destination, are subject to the same tariff rates.

The customs agreement was renegotiated in 1969, and Botswana,
Lesotho, and Swaziland have substantially increased their share of
the customs revenues.  In 1987-88, Lesotho received approximately
54% of its total government receipts as tariff revenues from the
customs union.

Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa also form a common
currency and exchange control area known as the Rand Monetary
Area which used the South African rand as common currency.
Lesotho introduced its own currency in 1980; on a par with the South
African rand is the loti (plural: maloti), and 100 lisente equal one loti.


FOREIGN RELATIONS
Lesotho's geographic location and economic dependence on South
Africa make it very vulnerable to political and economic
developments there.  Following Lesotho's January 1986 coup, the
new government indicated its willingness to be more sensitive to
South African security concerns and has actively sought UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and third-country assistance in providing
resettlement for South African refugees.  Although sharply critical of
apartheid, the government of Lesotho cannot avoid vital economic
and commercial ties with its neighbor and depends on it for transit,
employment opportunities, and development cooperation.

The current regime has sought a more cooperative relationship with
Pretoria.  One result of this improved bilateral atmosphere was the
establishment of trade missions in the two countries.  Another result
was the signature of an agreement in 1986 to proceed with the
long-planned Highlands Water Project.

Lesotho maintains very close relations with the United States, the
United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, and other
Western countries.  It also has excellent ties with a number of African
states and is particularly close to Nigeria.  In 1983, Lesotho began
to diversify its international contacts.  Following former Prime Minister
Jonathan's May 1983 visit to Eastern Europe and Asia, the Soviet
Union, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and North Korea were
permitted to open embassies in Maseru.  Formal diplomatic relations
with most East European countries have since been established,
although only the Soviet Union has opened a resident diplomatic
mission in Lesotho.

Following the 1986 coup, the North Korean embassy was closed,
and regular diplomatic contact was suspended.  In 1990, Lesotho
broke relations with the PRC and reestablished relations with Taiwan.
Other recent foreign policy initiatives have included recognition of
Palestine as a state, the establishment of relations with Western
Sahara and Namibia, and strong public support for negotiations in
South Africa aimed at creating a new, post-apartheid society.

Lesotho remains active in the United Nations, Organization of African
Unity, the Nonaligned Movement, and other international
organizations.  It also belongs to the Southern African Development
Coordination Conference, whose purpose is to lessen the
dependence of its members on neighboring South Africa, and to the
Preferential Trade Area, an association of East and southern African
states.


US-LESOTHO RELATIONS
The United States has friendly relations with Lesotho and encourages
the country's political, economic, and social development as a
nonracial, democratic, independent nation.  Estimated US assistance
to Lesotho for fiscal year 1989 was:  AID, $9.6 million; PL 480 (Food
For Peace), $5.2 million; and Peace Corps, 100 volunteers.

AID programs in Lesotho have focused principally on agriculture,
primary education, child survival, family planning and private sector
development.  Peace Corps volunteers work in secondary school
education-especially in mathematics and science curriculum
development-vocational training, teacher training, horticulture, animal
husbandry, health education, community and rural development, and
employment generation projects.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador-Vacant
Deputy Chief of Mission-Steven Wagenseil
Administrative Officer-Mike St. Clair
Consular Officer-Alan Hutchings
Public Affairs Office (USIS)-Douglas Ebner (Tel: 312335)
Director, AID-Furman Towery (Tel: 313954)
Director, Peace Corps-Kim Ward (Tel: 313871)

The mailing address of the US Embassy is PO Box 333, Maseru 100,
Lesotho (Tel: 312666, Fax: [phone], Telex: 4506 USAID LO).

TRAVEL NOTES:
Climate and clothing:  Light summer wear is suitable from October
to May.  Winter clothing is needed from June to September.


Entry requirements:  Americans traveling to Lesotho can obtain visas
on arrival.  However, all routes to Lesotho pass through South Africa,
and travelers without a South African multiple entry visitor's visa are
not permitted to leave the international area while transiting
Johannesburg's Jan Smuts Airport.  A transit visa is not acceptable
for entry into South Africa.  The airport has inexpensive, poor-quality
hotel rooms to accommodate those who remain overnight to make
onward connections.


Tourist attractions:  These include pony trekking, horseback riding,
hiking, and trout fishing.  Skiing in winter months is sometimes
possible.  The mountain scenery is striking, and lodge facilities are
available in most mountain tourist areas.


Health:  Tapwater is generally safe in the Maseru area, but it is
recommended that water be boiled and filtered.  Medical facilities in
Maseru are adequate for emergency treatment; more extensive
facilities are in Bloemfontein, South Africa, 140 km. (81 mi.) away.
South Africa's more cosmopolitan areas, such as Johannesburg,
Cape Town, and Durban, have nonracial medical facilities.


Telecommunications:  Telephone and telegraphic service is available
in and between the more populated areas of Lesotho, but much of
the interior can only be reached by radio.  Lesotho is six standard
time zones ahead of eastern standard time.  The country does not
observe daylight-saving time.


Transportation:  Maseru is a short flight from Johannesburg.
Lesotho Airways operates daily commercial flights to and from
Johannesburg and weekly to Botswana.  Royal Swazi Airways flies
to and from Maputo, Mozambique, by way of Manzini, Swaziland.  A
new international airport is located 12 miles outside of Maseru.
Airstrips are located at Mokhotlong, Leribe, Mohale's Hoek, Thaba
Tseka, and Qacha's Nek.  There are 28 other secondary landing
fields suitable only for light aircraft.  Maseru has few taxis.  Traffic
moves on the left.  Car rental agencies are available.


Published by the United States Department of State --  Bureau of
Public Affairs  --  Office of  Public Communication  --  Washington,
DC November 1990  --  Editor:  Marilyn J. Bremner
Department of State Publication 8091 -- Background Notes Series
-- This material is
in the public domain and may  be reprinted without permission;
citation of this source
is appreciated.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402.