Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. As an enclave of South Africa, with which it shares a 1,106 km (687 mi) border, it is the largest sovereign enclave in the world, and the only one outside of the Italian Peninsula. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest peak in Southern Africa. It has an area of over 30,000 km2 (11,600 sq mi) and has a population of about two million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. The country is also known by the nickname The Mountain Kingdom.
The history of people living in the area now known as Lesotho goes back as many as 400 years. Present Lesotho emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Under Moshoeshoe I, Basotho joined other clans in their struggle against the Lifaqane associated with famine and the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828.
The prime minister of Finland is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol after the president of Finland and the speaker of the Parliament but is in practice the most powerful officeholder. Finland's first prime minister, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, was appointed on 27 November 1917, just a few days before the country declared its independence.
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili 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. He led the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to a near-total victory in the 1998 election, and under his leadership the party also won majorities in the 2002 and 2007 elections. While serving as Prime Minister, Mosisili was also Minister of Defence.
Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa is a Lesotho politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lesotho from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Cabinet beginning in July 2001, first as Minister of Finance, then as Foreign Minister, Minister of Education, and starting in March 2007 as Foreign Minister again.
Thomas Motsoahae Thabane 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.
Monyane Moleleki is a Mosotho politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho, as well as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, from 2017 to 2020. As a leading figure in the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Moleleki was Minister of Natural Resources from 1993 to 1994, Minister of Information from 1996 to 1998, Minister of Natural Resources from 1998 to 2004, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2007, and Minister of Natural Resources from 2007 to 2012. After breaking with the LCD, Moleleki served as Deputy Leader of the Democratic Congress and was Minister of Police from 2015 to 2016. He left the Democratic Congress and launched a new party, the Alliance of Democrats, in 2017.
Pontso S. M. Sekatle is a politician and academic in Lesotho. Sekatle lectured at the National University of Lesotho from 1984 to 2001. In June 2001, she was appointed to the Senate of Lesotho, and on July 6, 2001 she became Minister of Health and Social Welfare. She was a member of the Qacha's Nek constituency for third time with the win in the elections in 2012 and was appointed the Minister of Local government and Chieftainship Affairs.
Early general elections were held in Lesotho on 3 June 2017 to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament. The elections were called more than three years ahead of schedule due to a successful vote of no confidence against the incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili.
Moeketsi Majoro is a Mosotho economist and politician who served as the sixth prime minister of Lesotho from May 2020 to October 2022. He was previously the minister of Finance in the cabinet of Tom Thabane from 2017 to 2020. Majoro has been representing the Thetsane Constituency No. 33 in the National Assembly since his election in 2017. He was formerly a senator and the minister of Development Planning from 2013 to 2015. Majoro is a member of the All Basotho Convention (ABC).
'Matšepo Ramakoae is a Lesotho politician. She was serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations from May 2020 to October 2022. She is the legislator from the Matsieng constituency No. 45. Ramakoae served as the Deputy Minister of Finance from 2012 until 2015.
Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh was tasked with forming a cabinet on 7 October 2020. He was sworn in along with his cabinet on 12 October 2020. The two exceptions were Minister of State Mahmoud Kharabsheh who had been tested positive for COVID-19, and Minister of State for Follow-up and Government Coordination Nawaf Wasfi Tell who had to follow quarantine requirements after return from abroad.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 7 October 2022 to elect all 120 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.
The Albanese ministry is the 73rd ministry of the Government of Australia. It is led by the country's 31st Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. The Albanese ministry succeeded the second Morrison ministry, which resigned on 23 May 2022 following the federal election that took place on 21 May which saw Labor defeat Scott Morrison's Liberal–National Coalition.
Ntsokoane Samuel Matekane is a Mosotho businessman and politician who is the current Prime Minister of Lesotho. Prior to running, he was considered to be the richest person in the country. Matekane made his fortune in diamond mining, as well as through government issued construction contracts. He founded his company, Matekane Group of Companies (MGC) in 1986.
Tefo Mapesela is a Mosotho accountant and politician who serves as the leader of the Basotho Patriotic Party. He has been a proportional representation member of the National Assembly since April 2023, after previously serving as the legislator for Mokhotlong No. 79 constituency from 2015 until 2022. A former member of the All Basotho Convention, Mapesela served as the Minister of Trade and Industry from 2017 until 2018, as the Minister of Defence and National Security from 2018 to 2020 and as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security between 2020 and 2021.
The Cabinet of Sam Matekane is the incumbent coalition government of the Kingdom of Lesotho. It was established on 4 November 2022 following the swearing-in of Prime Minister Sam Matekane on 28 October 2022. It is the fifth coalition government in Lesotho history.
Limpho Justice Tau is a Mosotho politician who has been the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in Sam Matekane's Cabinet since November 2022. A member of the Revolution for Prosperity party, Tau serves in the Senate. Tau had previously led the Democratic Party, and was the party's sole member in the National Assembly from 2017 until his defection to the RFP in March 2022.
