Lesotho Defense Force

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Lesotho Defense Force
guide
Commander in Chief : Prime Minister Lesothos
( Moeketsi Majoro , since 2020)
Defense Minister: Prince Maliehe
Military Commander: Mojalefa Exavery Letsoela
Headquarters: Maseru
Military strength
Active soldiers: 2100 (2011)
Conscription: No
Eligibility for military service:
Share of soldiers in the total population: 0.1%
household
Military budget: $ 32.3 million (2004)
Share of gross domestic product : 2.3% (2004)
history
Founding: 1980
Highest manpower: 2300
LDF Battalion with Major General Samuel Mokoro (2009)

The Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; German "Armed Forces Lesotho") are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Lesotho .

history

History as a Police Mobile Unit

After Lesotho gained independence in 1966, the Lesotho Mounted Police was the only security agency in the country. This included the paramilitary Police Mobile Unit (PMU) founded in 1963 . In 1970, British advisors to the PMU advised Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan of the Basotho National Party (BNP) to have the 1970 general election, won by the opposition Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), invalid . In the riots that followed, the PMU broke the resistance of the BCP supporters. The British PMU commander in charge, Fred Roach, was apparently an agent of the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS) and was expelled from the country in 1972 after attempting to instigate a coup against Jonathan other BNP politicians. In 1974 the PMU was involved with groups close to the BNP in the killing of around 1,000 opposition members. In July of the same year, Justin Metsing Lekhanya became the first Mosotho commander of the PMU. To combat the opposition Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA), the Police Mobile Unit was given additional weapons and greater influence through the Internal Security Amendment Act ("Supplement to the Law on Internal Security"). However, the fight against the LLA was not very successful, with the LLA also having a rather low effect. Jonathan was dependent on the PMU - the additional power he received led to corruption and wing fighting within the PMU. It received its first aircraft in 1978.

Lesotho Paramilitary Force and Royal Lesotho Defense Force

In 1980 the PMU was separated from the police and was given the name Lesotho Paramilitary Force (LPF). The Makoanyane barracks were built as the headquarters in the capital Maseru , on the outskirts southeast of the center.

Jonathan's course of rapprochement with the communist regime led the LPF to turn away from its government. With the help of the apartheid regime in South Africa , a coup against the Lesotho government succeeded on January 20, 1986 under Lekhanya . Subsequently, senior military officials formed the Military Council ("Military Council"); all political activity was forbidden. Initially, King Moshoeshoe II was strengthened in his position and the LPF was renamed the Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF). Some prominent followers of Jonathan, such as Desmond Sixishe, were murdered by high-ranking officers. Around 1,600 men were under the command; they were armed with light weapons, armored vehicles and some smaller aircraft. In 1991, several lower-ranking officers forced the overthrow of Lekhanya, whereupon the later general Elias Phisoana Ramaema took over the post of head of the military government. He pushed through a return to democracy, but also insisted that the military be represented in the Council of State , which made it difficult for the government to control the army. By then the army had grown to 2,300 men.

Lesotho Defense Force

After returning to democracy

After the election Ntsu Mokhehles 1993 demanded as the new Prime Minister numerous soldiers now Lesotho Defense Force army called a content duplication and refused the order because they integrate the choice Mokhehles and his desire to earlier LLA fighters, not accepted. The commander Obed Metsing had to resign. In January 1994 fighting broke out between soldiers from two barracks in Maseru. In July 1994, Deputy Prime Minister Selometsi Baholo was killed by soldiers; other ministers were detained in Makoanyane barracks. In August, King Letsie III ventured . with the help of the military - especially Lekhanyas - a coup. After four weeks, the democratically elected government was reinstated under pressure from South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe . However, the putschists were granted impunity. Officers from the three states held seminars on the role of an army in a democratic state. In 1996, a defense minister was appointed for the first time and a civil defense council was established in the Ministry of Defense.

In 1997 the LDF surrounded the police headquarters and forced the police to surrender after three police officers were killed in 1995 and the police refused to investigate the case. After their arrest, there was another mutiny within the LDF. In 1998, 28 senior officers were dismissed from soldiers, including the commander, General Mosakeng, who had ordered the arrest of mutinous officers. After the South African Defense Minister Joe Modise and other statesmen in the region had unsuccessfully urged the LDF to give in, Operation Boleas was intervened on September 22, 1998 by troops of the South African National Defense Force and the Botswana Defense Force . 40 Basotho died in fighting at the Katse dam and the Makoanyane barracks . 40 LDF officers could be arrested, but many of the wanted soldiers were able to flee. Parts of Maseru, Mafeteng , Mohale's Hoek and Roma were burned down by local soldiers. The intervention troops only left the country in May 1999. A 300-man force from the Southern African Development Community stayed in Lesotho to restructure the LDF.

After that, the LDF was loyal to the democratically elected governments for a long time. As of 2001, the LDF was trained by Indian military personnel from the Indian Army Training Team . Since 2003, 219 soldiers have been trained by the People's Liberation Army in China (as of 2017).

Happened since 2014

On August 30, 2014, members of the military occupied the headquarters of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service , a radio station and surrounded several government buildings, so that Prime Minister, Commander in Chief and Secretary of Defense Tom Thabane fled to South Africa. The day before, Thabane had replaced commander Kennedy Tlali Kamoli with Maaparankoe Mahao ; Kamoli however refused to hand over the office. Thabane returned under the protection of South African police officers . Mahao was in fact unable to take office.

The crisis culminated in the 2015 elections , in which the parties loyal to Kamoli lost votes but were able to take over the government. Like Mahao, Kamoli returned from a forced stay abroad after the election. Under the new government, he was de facto and without official appointment, commander, whereas Mahao took legal action. On May 22, 2015, Kamoli was officially appointed commander by the government with retroactive effect from August 30, 2014. On June 25th, Mahao was murdered by soldiers. Around 50 soldiers had already been arrested and tortured by colleagues beforehand. The soldiers were accused of plotting a coup with Mahao. In December 2017 the last of them were acquitted.

As a result of Mahao's murder, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) set up the Phumaphi Commission , the report of which was available in November 2015. However, the Lesotho government did not agree to the publication until January 2016, after it was threatened with the suspension of SADC membership. The report recommends, among other things, the removal of Kamolis from office.

Motšomotšo still as deputy commander (2014)

On November 8, 2016, the government announced that Kamoli would hand over his post to Major General Khoantle Motšomotšo on December 1 of that year, according to the guidelines . At the handover it became clear that the government acted under pressure from outside. Motšomotšo was considered loyal to Kamoli and was promoted to lieutenant general.

After Thabane's victory in the 2017 elections , the South African government and army backed Thabane for an investigation into the incidents in 2014 and 2015.

On September 5, 2017, Commander Motšomotšo was shot dead in his home by two dismissed officers. The two officers who were also suspected of killing Mahao were also shot dead by bodyguards. Apparently they wanted to carry out a coup. They had met with Kamoli shortly before the crime. After the attack, SADC announced that it wanted to station troops in Lesotho, but initially only sent a small unit to assist Thabane in prosecuting the military. Kamoli was tried in October and charged with murder. The originally planned, 258-strong SADC troops were stationed in Lesotho from November 25th. Their mission was called SAPMIL ( SADC Preventive Mission in Lesotho ). On January 23, 2018, the former Air Wing commander Lieutenant General Mojalefa Exavery Letsoela became the new commander. The use of SAPMIL was ended in November 2018.

organization

The LDF is intended to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lesotho as well as its constitution . In addition, she has the following tasks:

  • Assistance in the preservation of life, health and property
  • Provision and maintenance of necessary services
  • Law and order maintenance as a support to the police as directed by the government
  • Assistance from state agencies as directed by the government
  • Compliance with international obligations such as peacekeeping missions and regional military cooperation

There is no conscription . Minister of Defense has been Prince Maliehe since 2020.

Commanders of the LDF (LPF, RLDF)

Surname Beginning of the term of office Term expires
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya July 1974 (PMU) 1991
General Elias Phisoana Ramaema 1991 ?
Lieutenant General Obed Metsing ? 1993
General Augustinius Makhula Mosakeng 1994 1998 (forced)
NN 1998 1998
General Augustinius Makhula Mosakeng 1998 October 27, 2004
Lieutenant General E. Thuso Motanyane October 27, 2004 August 24, 2011
Major General Phatoli Lekanyane August 24, 2011 March 18, 2012
Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli March 19, 2012 29th August 2014
Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao August 29, 2014 (de facto not in office) May 22, 2015
Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli May 22, 2015 (retroactive to August 29, 2014) December 1, 2016
Lieutenant General Khoantle Motšomotšo December 1, 2016 September 5, 2017 (†)
Major General Lineo Poopa September 6, 2017 (provisional) 22nd January 2018
Lieutenant General Mojalefa Exavery Letsoela since January 23, 2018

staff

In 2011, the strength of the LDF was around 2,100 people, including some women.

Armament

The LDF has two 105 mm artillery pieces and ten 81 mm mortars at its disposal. It has six 106 mm rocket launchers and 22 armored vehicles, including four Panhard AML 90s , ten RAM-2000 transport vehicles and eight Shorts S52 patrol vehicles .

Air Wing

The Air Wing (roughly: "the flight squadron ") has several aircraft and helicopters , including three Bell 412 helicopters, two Bo 105 helicopters , one H125 and one Bell 47G as well as three CASA C-212 transport aircraft . In 1989 a machine of this type crashed at Qacha's Nek ; all inmates died. Four soldiers died in a helicopter crash in 2017. Other small aircraft are a Cessna 182 and a Gippsland GA-8 "Airvan" .

Others

As the Lesotho Paramilitary Force, Royal Lesotho Defense Force and Lesotho Defense Force , the army's football club won numerous championship titles. He plays his games in Maseru.

The day of the 1986 military coup, January 20, was first observed as a public holiday in 1987, Army Day and replaced December 9 as a public holiday. On December 9, 1982, South African troops killed 42 people in Maseru in a commando operation . Today January 20th is no longer a public holiday, but it is still celebrated as Army Day .

The Makoanyane Military Hospital is also located at the site of the Makoanyane Headquarters .

literature

  • 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. 359-366.

Web links

Commons : Lesotho Defense Force  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b portrait at defenceweb.co.za (English), accessed on June 12, 2013
  2. ^ A b c d 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. 360.
  3. ^ 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. 361.
  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. 187.
  5. ^ 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. 362.
  6. ^ A b c 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. 363.
  7. ↑ a b Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weis fields Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 364.
  8. ^ A b c d 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. 365.
  9. ^ 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. 366.
  10. ↑ Relations India-Lesotho (English, PDF; 17 kB), accessed on June 12, 2013
  11. ↑ LDF members undergo training in China. Lesotho Times, August 4, 2017, accessed August 7, 2017
  12. ^ Army coup in Lesotho against elected government. zeit-online.de on August 30, 2014, accessed on August 30, 2014
  13. ↑ America slams Kamoli return. lestimes.com of May 28, 2015 (English), accessed June 3, 2015
  14. ↑ Setback for detained soldier. lestimes.com from August 6, 2015 (English), accessed August 8, 2015
  15. ^ Lesotho taken in coup by stealth. iol.co.za of June 29, 2015 (English), accessed July 1, 2015
  16. ^ Lesotho backs down in face of regional pressure. allafrica.com, January 19, 2016, accessed January 21, 2016
  17. ^ Lieutenant Kamoli retires. ( Memento from November 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) gov.ls from November 8, 2016 (English)
  18. ^ Lesotho army commander retires. ( Memento from December 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) sabc.co.za from December 1, 2016 (English)
  19. ↑ Is Lesotho about to plunge into chaos again? Institute for Security Studies on February 16, 2017, accessed on February 16, 2017
  20. ↑ SADC military experts speak on Lesotho. Lesotho Times, June 24, 2017, accessed June 24, 2017
  21. ↑ Lesotho's army chief shot dead in attack. shz.de from September 5, 2017, accessed on September 10, 2017
  22. ^ SADC mission makes shock statement. Lesotho Times, September 22, 2017, accessed October 2, 2017
  23. ↑ SADC sends standby force. Lesotho Times, September 7, 2017, accessed September 10, 2017
  24. ^ SADC delays sending of protection force into troubled Lesotho. Daily Maverick, October 11, 2017, accessed October 12, 2017
  25. ↑ Drama as Kamoli is charged. Lesotho Times, October 21, 2017, accessed October 22, 2017
  26. ↑ Zambian troops arrive in Lesotho as standby force. ( Memento of November 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) en.apa.az of November 26, 2017 (English)
  27. ^ SADC to review Ramaphosa mediation. Lesotho Times, March 3, 2018, accessed March 4, 2018
  28. ^ Government appoints new army commander. Lesotho Times, January 27, 2018, accessed January 28, 2018
  29. ↑ SADC flag lowered as bloc ends Lesotho mission. southerntimesafrica.com, accessed November 26, 2018
  30. ↑ Official website of the government of Lesotho ( Memento of April 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  31. ^ Four dead after helicopter crash. enca.com from April 14, 2017 (English), accessed on April 19, 2017
  32. ↑ Airplanes of the LDF and its predecessor organizations ( Memento of October 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF; 6.7 MB)
  33. ↑ List of Lesotho's football champions , accessed on June 12, 2013