Political Crisis Looms in Lesotho as Ruling Party Splits
- Justice minister is fired, forms new political party
- Prime Minister Majoro says his government remains stable
Nqosa Mahao
Photographer: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images
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Lesotho, a tiny southern African nation plagued by years of political instability, appears headed for another crisis after a split in the ruling party and Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s firing of three ministers and a deputy.
Nqosa Mahao, the justice minister and deputy leader of the ruling All Basotho Convention, this week said he would break away to lead a new party called the Basotho Action Party. On Friday, Mojoro said the nation’s monarch, King Letsie III, accepted his recommendation that Mahao, the police minister, forestry minister and deputy health minister be removed from office with immediate effect.