On 23 October, the Office of the Prime Minister announced the dissolution of the Government Assets Recovery Task Team (GASRTT), a body tasked with reclaiming fraudulently acquired state assets, just weeks after it had reported alleged government mismanagement and corruption to Lesotho’s parliament. Among the findings it shared with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) were that state land had been irregularly allocated to senior government officials and private individuals and that the government could not account for hundreds of its vehicles. The prime minister’s office justified GASRTT’s dissolution on the grounds that it lacked the necessary legal framework and said it would be re-established once this had been rectified. However, questions have been raised about the timing of the intervention, with GASRTT reported to have flagged the legal framework issue when it began its operations in 2023. The team had been due to present two further reports to the PAC on 3 November. 

Sources:Lesotho Times,Ground Up,Lesotho News Agency,Lesotho Tribune

On 13 August, Lesotho’s government gazetted the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution Act, the first of three sets of anticipated reforms intended to address the constitutional causes of the country’s chronic political instability. Among other things, the Tenth Amendment establishes parliamentary oversight powers over government expenditure, provides for a parliamentary service, strengthens the independence of the Human Rights Commission and entrenches within the constitution a new anti-corruption commission. Further, it creates a Media Council to regulate the media industry and a Media Ombudsman to settle disputes within the sector, as well as providing for affirmative action in favour of historically marginalised groups, including women and people with disabilities. The approach taken by the current government to constitutional reform (the process began in 2012), however, has been criticised for being piecemeal, top-down and excluding stakeholders. 

Sources:Tenth Amendment to the Constitution Act, 2025,Democracy in Africa,News 24,International IDEA    

Between August and September, soldiers from the Lesotho Defence Forces (LDF) allegedly killed at least two civilians and tortured at least five others, as part of an ongoing operation to confiscate firearms from criminal gangs. ‘Operation Hard Fist’ was launched earlier in 2024 in response to an increase in gun-related violence in Lesotho, but it has been marred by reports of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture and killings. The incidents follow a speech made by Prime Minister Sam Matekane in early August, in which he urged the deputy army commander to ‘do everything in your power to ensure that peace returns to Lesotho’ – although he subsequently clarified that it was not a call for the army to torture and kill civilians. Opposition parties and civil society organisations have condemned the deployment of the LDF, saying it threatened civil liberties.   

Sources:Lesotho Times (1),Amnesty International,News 24,Lesotho Times (2)

Ombudswoman Tlotliso Polaki published a report on 19 March that detailed the findings of an investigation into allegations that prisoners were abused at the Maseru Correctional Centre Institution in December 2023. The Ombudswoman’s investigation found that prison staff, and notably trainees of the Lesotho Correctional Service, intentionally provoked a confrontation with inmates. On 21 December six inmates at the facility escaped. The following day, prison officials arranged a search of the facility. The Ombudswoman found that the search was intentionally aggressive in order to provoke fights with inmates, and that 300 of the 650 inmates were beaten. The Ombudsman’s report further identified an orchestrated effort to conceal the abuse and a denial of medical care to those who had been injured. 

Sources:Ombudsman of Lesotho,African Legal Information Institute,Lesotho News Agency,News24