Op-ed: Lesotho needs constitutional reforms to help gain political stability - but the latest attempt is flawed

Lesotho, a small country landlocked by South Africa, has been struggling to make constitutional reforms since the advent of coalition politics in 2012. It needs the reforms to address political instability which has been a feature of the country for more than five decades. The judiciary, security agencies and civil service have been politicised, resulting in the institutions being abused for political ends, stoking recurrent instability. [ . . . ] The current administration, in power since 2022, is taking a new stab at it. The national assembly is debating the bills intended to amend the constitution. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has hailed this as “a positive development”. But as a constitutional law researcher who has published widely on the constitutional developments in Lesotho, I argue that the current approach to constitutional amendment is only intended to ward off the current pressure to pass reforms. It may not cure the longstanding constitutional problems in the country.
Read the full article here: The Conversation