Communist Party of Lesotho | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Mokhafisi Kena |
| Founded | 5 May 1962 |
| Headquarters | Maseru |
| Ideology | Communism[1] Marxism-Leninism[2] Republicanism |
| Political position | Far-left[1] |
TheCommunist Party of Lesotho (Mokhatlo oa Makomonisi a Lesotho) is acommunist party inLesotho, founded on May 5, 1962. The founding secretary of the party was John Motloheloa. Other early leaders of the party included Mokhafisi Kena and Sefali Malefane. Joe Matthews of the South African Communist Party (founded 1953) financed the launch of the Lesotho party but later supported the ANC-alliedMarematlou Freedom Party. TheSouth African Communist Party, theHungarian Socialist Workers' Party andWalter Ulbricht of theSocialist Unity Party of Germany sent greetings on the occasion of the founding of the party. The party began publishingMosebetsi.[3]
During the 1960s, the party split into Soviet-allied (Kena, Malefane, Mtji, and Ms Hoohlo) and Chinese-allied (Motloholoa, T. Leanya, and T. Nqojane) factions. In the 1970 election, its two Moscow-allied candidates at Thaba Chitja (Kena) and Tsoelike (Malefane) received 25 and 18 votes respectively. The party was officially banned in February 1970, but went underground and continued its activities. After the 1986 coup, its leader, Sefali Malefane, a university lecturer in Economics, was made a minister in Major-GeneralJustin Lekhanya's regime. The party was made legal again in 1991.[4]
After the fall ofapartheid rule in neighbouringSouth Africa, the party advocated union with South Africa.[5]
The party ceased the publication of its newspaper,Mafube, in 1997.[6]
The party's current leader is Manny Stevenson.[7]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Parliamentary |
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| Extraparliamentary | |
| Inactive | |
