Lesotho Mounted Police Service | |
---|---|
Active | 18 October 1872 |
Country | Lesotho |
Headquarters | Maseru, Lesotho |
Motto | Lepolesa Mothusi Motsoalle Police A Helper A Friend |
Abbreviation | LMPS |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Advocate Borotho Matsoso (24 May 2024 ) |
Website | |
lmps.org.ls |
The Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) is the national police force of the Southern African Kingdom of Lesotho. [1] Advocate Borotho Matsoso is the current Commissioner of LMPS since 24 May 2024 after being sworn in by Prime Minister Sam Matekane. [2] [3]
The police service was established in 1872, with an initial strength of 110 men. It adopted military discipline and, from 1878, military rank structure based on the British army. [4] [5] In the 1950s the force moved towards a civilian police operation, and in 1958 replaced its military rank structure with conventional civilian police ranks. [6] Originally known as the Basutoland Mounted Police, the force later changed its name to Lesotho Police, then Lesotho Mounted Police (1966), and Royal Lesotho Mounted Force (1986). Today, in common with many police forces, it has adopted the style "police service" in its current formal name of Lesotho Mounted Police Service.
Rank and Insignia | ||||||||||||||
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Basutoland Mounted Police 1878–1958 | Rank | Major General | Brigadier | Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Major | Captain | Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant | Warrant Officer | Staff Sergeant | Sergeant | Lance Sergeant | Private |
Insignia | ||||||||||||||
Basutoland Mounted Police 1958–1966 | Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Senior Superintendent | Superintendent | Senior Inspector | Inspector | Sergeant | Constable | ||||
Insignia | ||||||||||||||
Lesotho Mounted Police 1966–1986 | Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Senior Superintendent | Superintendent | Senior Inspector | Inspector | Sergeant | Constable | ||||
Insignia | ||||||||||||||
Royal Lesotho Mounted Police 1986–1998 | Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Senior Superintendent | Superintendent | Senior Inspector | Inspector | Sergeant | Constable | ||||
Insignia | ||||||||||||||
Lesotho Mounted Police Service 1998–present | Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Senior Superintendent | Superintendent | Senior Inspector | Inspector | Sergeant | Constable | ||||
Insignia |
The national Police Training College (P.T.C) opened in 1946. All recruits are enrolled as Cadets and complete a thirteen-month training course. Recruits must be aged between 18 and 30, and pass an initial entrance examination. Recruits are accepted from all parts of Lesotho society, but must be registered as Lesotho citizens. Although police positions were originally restricted to men only, the force has admitted women officers since 1970.
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 only sovereign enclave in the world 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. It is the largest enclaved country in the world. 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.
Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basotho and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868, the Cape Colony was unpopular and unable to control the territory. As a result, Basutoland was brought under direct authority of Queen Victoria, via the High Commissioner, and run by an Executive Council presided over by a series of British Resident Commissioners.
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