Leabua Jonathan

Leabua Jonathan (1970)

Joseph Leabua Jonathan (born October 30, 1914 in Leribe , Basutoland , † April 5, 1987 in Pretoria , South Africa ) was a Lesothian politician and Prime Minister of Lesotho from 1965 to 1986 .

Life

Jonathan was a great-grandson of King Moshoeshoe I , grandson of Molapo and son of a concubine of morena Jonathan Molapo. He received his education at a mission school of the Société des missions évangéliques de Paris in Leribe. He acquired further education in self-study. He left elementary school after sixth grade and worked as a miner in South Africa . After his return he was employed in the local administration from 1937. Among other things, he was responsible for escaped and stolen cattle. He met the South African lawyer Patrick Duncan , who worked in the administration of Basutoland, and so began to be interested in politics. In 1951 he was appointed assessor of the Judical Commission Leribe and in the following year he entered politics. In 1956 Jonathan was elected to the Leribe District Council , which later nominated him for the Basutoland National Council . After 1959 he began to deal with forms of parliamentary work and parliamentary practice in Westminster , including taking courses in London .

He became counselor to the regent 'Mantšebo and converted to Catholicism through her. He was a representative of the delegation in London that asked for self-government for Basutoland. Jonathan developed an alternative to the then Basutoland African Congress that served the interests of the barena and the Catholic Church . In 1959, Jonathan founded the Basutoland National Party (BNP), which remained insignificant in the 1960 elections . Jonathan did not enter into alliances with other parties and remained politically active. Despite the apartheid there, he sought financial and personal help in South Africa and narrowly won the parliamentary elections in April 1965 . However, he did not win a seat and was only able to take up his post as Prime Minister after a successful by-election on July 7, 1965.

Shortly before Lesotho's declaration of independence, Jonathan traveled to Pretoria on September 2, 1966 to meet Prime Minister Verwoerd . Both sides agreed to develop good neighborly relations and intergovernmental cooperation without wanting to influence the internal affairs of the other country. The results of the talks were announced in a joint statement. They were not used to prepare negotiations; bilateral consultations at expert level should only start after Lesotho's independence.

Jonathan received extensive powers after Lesotho's independence in 1966 and after a power struggle with King Moshoeshoe II . On October 4, 1966, he became Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho. A year later he headed his country's delegation to the UN General Assembly in Geneva , where the application for membership was made. This request was confirmed and Lesotho became the 121st member state. In the 1970 elections , Jonathan's BNP was only the second largest force with 23 seats, while the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) under Ntsu Mokhehle won 36 seats. Jonathan then declared a state of emergency, suspended the constitution and imprisoned opposition leaders. Moshoeshoe II was temporarily exiled. The elections were canceled and Lesotho was henceforth ruled by Jonathan by decree . After the opposition accepted the cancellation of the elections, Jonathan partially reinstated the constitution. However, there were no elections for the time being. Several ministers from opposition groups were accepted into the cabinet, but were dismissed a short time later. Jonathan survived a 1974 coup attempt by parts of the BCP; Likewise, attacks by the Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA), which was later partly controlled by South Africa, did not harm the government.

From the late 1970s, despite Lesotho's dependence on South Africa, Jonathan criticized its apartheid policy and publicly supported the African National Congress . As a result, there were commando actions by South Africa in Lesotho, in which numerous people died, and further destabilization measures in South Africa (see also: South African attack on Lesotho 1982 ). In return, Jonathan allowed socialist or communist states like North Korea to set up embassies in Lesotho. Conservative circles of the BNP and the military followed this development only reluctantly. In 1985 Jonathan announced an election date. However, the election meetings to run candidates were boycotted by all opposition parties. Thereupon Jonathan declared the election - without a vote - as won for his party.

South Africa increased the pressure on the Jonathan government. At the turn of 1985/1986 all border crossings in Lesotho were blocked for goods. On January 20, 1986, Jonathan's reign was ended by a military coup by Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya . Jonathan was placed under house arrest in August 1986. He died of gastric cancer on April 5, 1987 at the age of 72 .

Personal

Jonathan was married. The couple had four daughters and one son. His leisure interests were in sports and reading and he liked the traditional Sesotho dance Mohobelo. The daughter Lydia Thikhoi Jonathan (* 1951) is a natural scientist who worked at the National University of Lesotho as Pro-Vice-Chancellor in the second highest administrative position.

Honors

• Rt. Hon. (Chief)
• LL. D. (Dr. jur.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , pp. 126-131.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Sheila Keeble (Ed.) SPP Kutumela, A. Booley: The Black Who's Who of Southern Africa Today . African Business Publ., Johannesburg 1979, 1st edition, p. 134
3. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1966 . Johannesburg 1967, p. 118
4. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 131.