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Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month
August 2007
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Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps
This month's featured note
is from Lesotho.
The denomination is 10 Maloti and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
(SCWPM) Number is P-15b.
The note is dated 2003.
(front)
The banknote is red and purple on multicolored underprint. King Moshoeshoe
I (1786?-March 11, 1870), a great Lesotho chief who helped stave off colonialism
in the late 1800's.
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The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online
Encyclopedia
King Moshoeshoe I
(1786?-March 11, 1870)
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
Moshoeshoe (1786?-March 11, 1870) was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli lineage- a branch of the Kuena (crocodile) clan. In his early childhood, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34 Moshoeshoe formed his own clan and became a chief. He and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain.
Chieftain
Moshoeshoe was born in 1787 during a famine. He was given the name Lepoqo (Lepoqo means disasters) at his birth, due to the deprived conditions into which he was born and raised. Moshoeshoe’s parents had a large influence on the child as he grew up, teaching him about virtues and discipline in a politically inclined way. Moshoeshoe gained his place as a leader after a punitive raid on a cattle thief, returning with hundreds of heads of cattle, earning him his name “Moshoeshoe (the shaver)” as he was said to have shaved off the beard of his adversary. Moshoeshoe’s reign coincided with the growth in power of the well-known Zulu king, Shaka. During the early 1800s Shaka raided many smaller clans along the eastern coast of Southern Africa, incorporating parts of them into his steadily growing Zulu chiefdom. Various small clans were forced to flee the Zulu chief. An era of great wars of calamity followed, known as the Mfecane/lifaqane. It was marked by aggression against the Sotho people by the invading Nguni clans. The attacks also forced Moshoeshoe to move his settlement to the Qiloane plateau. The name was later changed to Thaba Bosiu or "mountain of the night" because it was believed to be growing during the night and shrinking during day. It proved to be an impassable stronghold against enemies.
Diplomat
The most significant role Moshoeshoe played as a diplomat was his acts of friendship towards his beaten enemies. He provided land and protection to various people and this strengthened the growing Basotho nation. His influence and followers grew with the integration of a number of refugees and victims of the wars of calamity.
By the latter part of the 1800s, Moshoeshoe established the nation of the Basotho, in Basutoland. He was popularly known as Morena e Moholo/morena oa Basotho (Great chief/king of the Basotho).
The arrival of the Dutch in the Cape Colony brought guns as well, and Moshoeshoe determined that he needed these and a white advisor. From other tribes, he heard of the benefits missionaries brought. By chance, three representatives of the Society arrived in the heart of southern Africa : Eugene Casalis, Constant Gosselin and Thomas Arbousset. Moshoeshoe brought them to his kingdom.
From 1837 to 1855 Casalis played the role of Moshoeshoe's Foreign Minister. With his knowledge of the non-African world, he was able to inform and advise the king in his dealings with hostile foreigners. He also served as an interpreter for Moshoeshoe in his dealings with white people, and documented the Sesotho language.
In the late 1830s, Boer trekkers from the Cape Colony showed up on the western borders of Basutoland and subsequently claimed land rights. The trekkers' pioneer in this area was Jan de Winnaar, who settled in the Matlakeng area in May-June 1838. As more farmers were moving into the area they tried to colonise the land between the two rivers, even north of the Caledon, claiming that it had been abandoned by the Sotho people. Moshoeshoe, when hearing of the trekker settlement above the junction, stated that "... the ground on which they were belonged to me, but I had no objections to their flocks grazing there until such time as they were able to proceed further; on condition, however, that they remained in peace with my people and recognised my authority."
Eugene Casalis later remarked that the trekkers had humbly asked for temporary rights while they were still few in number, but that when they felt "strong enough to throw off the mask" they went back on their initial intention.
The next 30 years were marked by conflicts.
Wars
Moshoeshoe signed a treaty with the British Governor, Sir George Thomas Napier. Among the provisions of this treaty was the annexation of a tract of land (now called the Orange River Sovereignty) that many Boers had settled. The outraged Boers were suppressed in a brief skirmish in 1848, but remained bitter at both the British and the Sotho.
The situation erupted in 1851. A British force was defeated by the Sotho army at Konoyana, touching off an embarrassing war for the British. After repulsing another British attack in 1852, Moshoeshoe sent an appeal to the British commander that allowed him to save face. Once again, diplomacy saved the Sotho empire. After a final defeat of the Tloka in 1853, Moshoeshoe reigned supreme.
However, the British pulled out of the region in 1854, causing the de facto formation of two independent states: the Boer Orange Free State and the Sotho Kingdom.
In 1858 Moshoeshoe defeated the Boers in the Free State-Basotho War and in 1865 Moshoeshoe lost a great portion of the western lowlands. The last war in 1867 ended only when the British and Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868. The British were eager to check Boer advances, and Moshoeshoe, with advice from Eugene Casalis, realized that continued pressure from the Boers would lead to the destruction of his kingdom.
In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal with the Boers. It defined the boundaries of Basutoland and later Lesotho; those boundaries have not changed. The arable land west of the Caledon River remained in Boer hands, and is referred to as the Lost or Conquered Territory. This effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size.
Legacy
Although he had ceded much territory, Moshoeshoe never suffered a major military defeat and retained most of his kingdom and all of his culture. His death in 1870 marked the end of the traditional era and the beginning of the modern colonial period. Moshoeshoe Day is a federal holiday in Lesotho celebrated every year on March 11 to commemorate the day of Moshoeshoe's death.
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(back)
Traditionally dressed Masotho on horseback with maize crops and mountains in the
background.
The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online
Encyclopedia
The History of Lesotho
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
Lesotho (pronounced /li'su tu/) — had been populated by Khoi Khoi (Qhuaique) for possibly as long as 40,000 years. Lesotho was later created as an independent nation.
Ancient history
At some stage during their migration south from a tertiary dispersal area Bantu speaking peoples came to settle the lands that now make up Lesotho as well as a more extensive territory of fertile lands that surround modern day Lesotho. These people spoke a unique "South Sotho" dialect seSotho and called themselves the Basotho. There were several severe disruptions to the Basotho peoples in the early 19th century. Firstly marauding Zulu clans, displaced from Zululand as part of the Lifaqane (or Mfecane), wrought havoc on the Basotho peoples they encountered as they moved first west and then north. Secondly no sooner than the Zulu has passed to the north than the first Voortrekkers arrived, some of whom obtained hospitality during their difficult trek north. Early Voortrekker accounts describe how the lands surrounding the mountain retreat of the Basotho had been burnt and destroyed, in effect leaving a vacuum that subsequent Voortrekkers began to occupy.
However, this interpretation of history for the entire southern region of Africa has been refuted by Norman Etherington in The Great Treks: The Transformation of Southern Africa, 1815-1854 (Longman, 2001). Etherington argues that no such thing as the Mfecane occurred, the Zulu were no more marauding than any other group in the region, and the land the Voortrekkers saw as empty was not settled by either Zulu or Basotho because those people did not value open lowland plains as pasture
Kingdom of Lesotho
On October 4, 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Senate and an elected National Assembly. Early results of the first post-independence elections in January 1970 indicated that the BNP might lose control. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan, the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) refused to cede power to the rival Basotholand Congress Party (BCP), although the BCP was widely believed to have won the elections. Citing election irregularities, Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan nullified the elections, declared a national state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the Parliament. In 1973, an appointed Interim National Assembly was established. With an overwhelming progovernment majority, it was largely the instrument of the BNP, led by Prime Minister Jonathan. In addition to the Jonathan regime's alienation of Basotho powerbrokers and the local population, South Africa had virtually closed the country's land borders because of Lesotho support of cross-border operations of the African National Congress (ANC). Moreover, South Africa publicly threatened to pursue more direct action against Lesotho if the Jonathan government did not root out the ANC presence in the country. This internal and external opposition to the government combined to produce violence and internal disorder in Lesotho that eventually led to a military takeover in 1986.
Under a January 1986 Military Council decree, state executive and legislative powers were transferred to the King who was to act on the advice of the Military Council, a self-appointed group of leaders of the Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF). A military government chaired by Justin Lekhanya ruled Lesotho in coordination with King Moshoeshoe II and a civilian cabinet appointed by the King.
In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, and the Council of Ministers was purged. Lekhanya accused those involved of undermining discipline within the armed forces, subverting existing authority, and causing an impasse on foreign policy that had been damaging to Lesotho's image abroad. Lekhanya announced the establishment of the National Constituent Assembly to formulate a new constitution for Lesotho with the aim of returning the country to democratic, civilian rule by June 1992. Before this transition, however, Lekhanya was ousted in 1991 by a mutiny of junior army officers that left Phisoane Ramaema as Chairman of the Military Council.
Because Moshoeshoe II initially refused to return to Lesotho under the new rules of the government in which the King was endowed only with ceremonial powers, Moshoeshoe's son was installed as King Letsie III. In 1992, Moshoeshoe II returned to Lesotho as a regular citizen until 1995 when King Letsie abdicated the throne in favor of his father. After Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996, King Letsie III ascended to the throne again.
In 1993, a new constitution was implemented leaving the King without any executive authority and proscribing him from engaging in political affairs. Multiparty elections were then held in which the BCP ascended to power with a landslide victory. Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle headed the new BCP government that had gained every seat in the 65-member National Assembly. In early 1994, political instability increased as first the army, followed by the police and prisons services, engaged in mutinies. In August 1994, King Letsie III, in collaboration with some members of the military, staged a coup, suspended Parliament, and appointed a ruling council. As a result of domestic and international pressures, however, the constitutionally elected government was restored within a month.
In 1995, there were isolated incidents of unrest, including a police strike in May to demand higher wages. For the most part, however, there were no serious challenges to Lesotho's constitutional order in the 1995-96 period. In January 1997, armed soldiers put down a violent police mutiny and arrested the mutineers.
In 1997, tension within the BCP leadership caused a split in which Dr. Mokhehle abandoned the BCP and established the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) followed by two-thirds of the parliament. This move allowed Mokhehle to remain as Prime Minister and leader of a new ruling party, while relegating the BCP to opposition status. The remaining members of the BCP refused to accept their new status as the opposition party and ceased attending sessions. Multiparty elections were again held in May 1998.
Although Mokhehle completed his term as Prime Minister, due to his failing health, he did not vie for a second term in office. The elections saw a landslide victory for the LCD, gaining 79 of the 80 seats contested in the newly expanded Parliament. As a result of the elections, Mokhehle's Deputy Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, became the new Prime Minister. The landslide electoral victory caused opposition parties to claim that there were substantial irregularities in the handling of the ballots and that the results were fraudulent. The conclusion of the Langa Commission, a commission appointed by Southern African Development Community (SADC) to investigate the electoral process, however, was consistent with the view of international observers and local courts that the outcome of the elections was not affected by these incidents. Despite the fact that the election results were found to reflect the will of the people, opposition protests in the country intensified. The protests culminated in a violent demonstration outside the royal palace in early August 1998 and in an unprecedented level of violence, looting, casualties, and destruction of property. In early September, junior members of the armed services mutinied. The Government of Lesotho requested that a SADC task force intervene to prevent a military coup and restore stability to the country. To this end, Operation Boleas, consisting of South African and (later) Botswana troops, entered Lesotho on September 22, 1998 to put down the mutiny and restore the democratically elected government. The army mutineers were brought before a court-martial.
After stability returned to Lesotho, the SADC task force withdrew from the country in May 1999, leaving only a small task force (joined by Zimbabwean troops) to provide training to the LDF. In the meantime, an Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998 and devised a proportional electoral system to ensure that there be opposition in the National Assembly. The new system retained the existing 80 elected Assembly seats, but added 40 seats to be filled on a proportional basis. Elections were held under this new system in May 2002, and the LCD won again, gaining 54% of the vote. For the first time, however, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats, and despite some irregularities and threats of violence from Major General Lekhanya, Lesotho experienced its first peaceful election. Nine opposition parties now hold all 40 of the proportional seats, with the BNP having the largest share (21). The LCD has 79 of the 80 constituency-based seats.
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