Kelebone Maope

Kelebone Albert Maope (born 1945) is a politician from Lesotho. He served in the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) and Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) governments during the 1990s before splitting from the LCD in 2001 to form his own party, the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC).

Kelebone Maope
Born1945 (age 77–78)

Political career

As a member of the BCP, Maope served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice under the military regime that ruled Lesotho from 1986 to 1993.[1] He was also Minister of Justice in the BCP government that took office in 1993.[2] On April 14, 1994, he was briefly kidnapped along with three other ministers by soldiers; a fifth minister, Deputy Prime Minister Selometsi Baholo, was killed in this incident.[3]

Maope served as Minister of Justice until he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle on July 20, 1995.[4] On February 21, 1998 he was elected Deputy Leader of the new ruling party, the LCD, which had been formed in 1997.[5] He remained in this position until June 1998, when he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.[6] On July 22, 1999, he became Minister of Finance and Development Planning, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister.[7]

In early 2001, Maope was re-elected as Deputy Leader of the LCD without opposition.[8] In July 2001, he was moved from his position as Minister of Finance to that of Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, remaining Deputy Prime Minister.[9]

In September 2001, tensions within the LCD were reflected in a statement by Maope, a member of the party's Lesiba faction, alleging that the government was oppressive. Foreign Minister Tom Thabane then publicly insulted Maope. On September 28, Maope resigned from the government,[10] and he formed a new party, the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC), which was registered on October 8. The LPC, with Maope as its leader, gained 27 members of parliament through defections from the LCD.[11]

In the May 2002 parliamentary election, Maope won a seat in the Seqonoka constituency; he was the only LPC candidate to win a constituency, although the party gained four other seats through proportional representation.[12]

References
  1. Francis K. Makoa, "Political Instability in Post-Military Lesotho: The Crisis of the Basotho Nation-state?" Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, African Security Review, volume 5, number 3, 1996.
  2. "Jun 1993 - Lesotho", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 39, June 1993, Lesotho, page 39,500.
  3. "Deputy Prime Minister Murdered by Army Faction", Summary of Events in Lesotho, 2nd quarter 1994, trc.org.ls."Summary of Events in Lesotho - 2nd quarter 1994". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  4. "Cabinet Reshuffle" Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 2, Number 3, Third Quarter 1995, trc.org.ls.
  5. "Lesotho Congress for Democracy Vacillates Before Electing New Leader" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 5, Number 1, First Quarter 1998, trc.org.ls.
  6. "Appointment of New Cabinet" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 5, Number 2, Second Quarter 1998, trc.org.ls.
  7. "Government Reshuffle Following Ketso’s Resignation", Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 6, Number 3, Third Quarter 1999, trc.org.ls.
  8. "Office Bearers win by Narrow Margins at LCD Conference" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 8, Number 1, First Quarter 2001, trc.org.ls.
  9. "Cabinet Reshuffle Results in New Blood" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 8, Number 3, Third Quarter 2001, trc.org.ls.
  10. "Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Trade Insults; DPM Later Resigns" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 8, Number 3, Third Quarter 2001, trc.org.ls.
  11. "LCD Dissidents Form New Political Party" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 8, Number 4, Fourth Quarter 2001, trc.org.ls.
  12. "Compensatory Seats Spring a Few Surprises" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Summary of Events in Lesotho, Volume 9, Number 2, Second Quarter 2002, trc.org.ls.
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