The 1991 Lesotho coup d'état was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

coup that took place in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

on 30 April 1991, led by Colonel Elias Phisoana Ramaema. It led to the resignation of Prime Minister General Justin Lekhanya, who held the office since the 1986 coup d'état. Colonel Ramaena besieged the government and forced Prime Minister Lekhanya to resign. During Ramaena's two years in power, a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

restoring the powers of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was adopted. Multi-party general election was held on 27 March 1993, with the assistance of the Secretariat of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, at the request of the government. Finally, the exiled King Moshoeshoe II, who was dethroned by General Lekhanya in 1990, was restored to the throne on 25 January 1995.

References

Military coups in Lesotho 1991 in Lesotho Conflicts in 1991 1990s coups d'état and coup attempts April 1991 in Africa 1990s sieges {{Lesotho-stub