Mothetjoa Metsing (born 2 February 1967) is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho. He is a member and current leader of the

Lesotho Congress for Democracy The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is a political party in Lesotho. In 1997, Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle left the Basutoland Congress Party to form with his faction the new Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The new party won the 1998 e ...

(LCD). He served in the government of Prime Minister

Tom Thabane Thomas Motsoahae Thabane (born 28 May 1939) is a Mosotho politician who was the fifth Prime Minister of Lesotho from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2020. He founded the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in 2006 and led the party until 2022. Thabane ...

between 2012 and 2015. In 2014, he was involved in controversy over an alleged coup attempt against the prime minister that was eventually resolved over calls for an early election.

Political career

Before the 2012 general election, the ruling

suffered a split because of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pakalitha Mosisili Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili (born 14 March 1945) is a former Mosotho politician who was the fourth prime minister of Lesotho from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017. Mosisili then founded a new party called the Democratic Congress. LCD Secretary-General Mothetjoa Metsing then moved to lead the LCD.

leads another faction that broke away in 2006, the

All Basotho Convention The All Basotho Convention (ABC; ) is a political party in Lesotho. The party was formed in October 2006 and founded by Tom Thabane, a former minister in the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) led by the government of Prime Minister Pakalith ...

. The LCD's Metsing said that he would not take part in a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

. In like measure the ABC ruled out working with the LCD. Yet after the election, the two parties, along with the

Basotho National Party The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 Basutoland general election, 1965 general election until t ...

, were part of a coalition government.

Attempted coup d'état

Following political tensions and the suspension of parliament over the controversial change of the head of the army from Lieutenant General Kennedy Tlali Kamoli to Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao, an alleged attempted coup d'état forced Thabane to flee the country. He then returned under cover of South African and Namibian police, who guarded him around-the-clock. Under the auspices of the SADC, mediation led by South African Deputy President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

resulted in a call for an early election. Lesotho's King Letsie III set February 28, 2015, as the date for the election. Thabane was backed by the national police, while his deputy Metsing was backed by the army, which refused to recognise the change in army leadership. On June 5, 2017, upon losing the latest round of National elections, Mr. Metsing made the following statement; "The LDF would need to be 'protected' from Prime Minister-elect Thomas Thabane who sealed an agreement yesterday with three other parties to form government.". The former deputy premier said the army needed to be "protected" for their role in propping up the outgoing government. Mr Metsing has been accused of collaborating with the LDF in his political fights, although he and the military have vehemently denied the allegations. ABC leader and former premier Thomas Thabane accused Mr Metsing of helping to plan an LDF raid on three key Maseru police stations on the morning of 30 August 2014 which the former described as a coup attempt. The raid, which left one police officer dead, triggered a chain of unsavoury events that led to the collapse of the Dr Thabane-led coalition government and intervention by the international community in an effort to avert a complete breakdown of the rule of law in Lesotho.

National honours

Foreign honours

* ** Two Sicilian Royal Family: Knight Commander of the

Royal Order of Francis I The Royal Order of Francis I (properly 'The Royal Order of Francis I of the Two Sicilies' ) was an extinct order of merit of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was annexed in 1861 by the King of Italy (until 1860 King of Piedmont and S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metsing, Mothetjoa Deputy prime ministers of Lesotho Lesotho Congress for Democracy politicians Living people Members of the National Assembly (Lesotho) People from Leribe District 1967 births 21st-century politicians