SUMMARY
Armed conflict occurred in Lesotho in 1998, as a controversy over election results and the dismissal of a colonel triggered a mutiny within the armed forces. The government of Lesotho called for assistance from SADC countries, and following the deployment of South African and Botswanan troops the mutinous Military faction could eventually be contained.
IN DEPTH
Disputed election results trigger an army mutiny
The political life of this small, land-locked country has since independence from Britain in 1966 been chaotic during long periods of time. In 1993 democracy was restored after eight years of military rule. However, the democratic system proved to be unstable, with recurring political crises. Apart from animosity between the different political parties, there were also internal power struggles within the parties.
The armed forces in Lesotho had traditionally played an important role in the governance of the state. Imposing civilian control over the standing army of about 2000 troops proved difficult for the new democracy. Serious discontent was rampant in large parts of the army, and during the years following the 1993 restoration of democracy there were a number of mutinies and more or less veiled threats from sections of the armed forces, directed at the rulers.
Elections to an expanded National Assembly took place in May 1998. The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) won a landslide victory, securing 78 of the 80 contested seats, and a month later Pakalitha Mosisili was sworn in as prime minister. The election result was surprising, and even though independent observers declared the process to have been free and fair, it provoked legal challenges in 20 constituencies from the main opposition parties. In August the protests had escalated and included large popular anti-government demonstrations. In an effort to defuse the situation, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) appointed a commission to investigate the allegations of electoral fraud. On 17 September the report was released. It noted that even though there had been some practical and administrative problems, no widespread fraud could be detected. Thus, it did not see the need for a re-run of the election. In the meantime, the popular protests had continued, now supported by parts of the army. The split within the armed forces became even more evident when a colonel was dismissed, accused of sympathising with the demonstrators. Many junior officers opposed his dismissal, and on 11 September mutinous soldiers arrested 22 of their senior colleagues and forced their commander, Lieutenant General Makhula Mosakeng to broadcast his resignation over Radio Lesotho. Thus, at the end of September 1998, the situation in the country was chaotic and there were signs indicating an imminent coup. On 16 and 18 September prime minister Mosisili requested assistance from other SADC countries. Subsequently, under the auspices of SADC, 600 South African and 200 Botswanan troops entered Lesotho on 22 September in aid of the government.
The SADC troops met unexpectedly heavy resistance from mutineers from the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), as well as from armed opposition supporters, and by 23 September the South Africans had lost eight soldiers and the mutinous troops was reported to have lost at least 18 dead. Furthermore it was estimated that some 50 civilians were killed in connection to the fighting. In October, rebel soldiers retreated strategically to the mountains where they were able to delay the fall of their Makonyane army headquarter to the South African Defence Force (SANDF) and the Botswanan Defence Force (BDF), despite a heavy artillery and mortar onslaught from the two armies. They were eventually forced out of their barracks, but managed to regroup and continue their battle against the SADC troops. By November, however, fighting seemed to have died down. The military hierarchy appeared to have been restored with the reinstatement of a number of senior military figures that fled to South Africa after they were forced by mutinous soldiers to resign in September. Even if effective control over the troops was tenuous, an order for all troops to return to barracks and hand in their weapons was largely abided by.
Due to the normalization in the country, 1400 of the 3500 South African troops were withdrawn on 30 October 1998. On 3 December a further 650 troops were withdrawn. Parallel to the fighting, negotiations between the government and the opposition took place in October. The rebel Military faction was not represented, though, and the link between it and the political opposition is not clear. Ministers from SADC countries, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe on 14 October managed to broker a deal after 12 hours of talk. The agreement called for the creation of a Transnational Executive Committee to oversee preparations for fresh elections in 18 months. The committee was to function in parallel to the embattled government. Although the Military faction was not represented in the talks, no new violence broke out and the conflict remained terminated as of 1998.
