Cape Town - Lesotho Prime Minister-elect Sam Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, a party set up only six months ago, won 56 out of 120 seats in Lesotho’s Parliament in recent elections.
The millionaire businessman, turned politician will be sworn in as Lesotho’s next prime minister on Friday during a ceremony to be attended by leaders from across the continent at the Setsoto Stadium in Maseru.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the inauguration of Prime Minister-elect Matekane.
The Lesotho Times reported on Thursday that the Prime Minister will fund his own inauguration.
It is unclear as to what the actual cost of the event will be.
In 2021, the diamond magnate was named the richest citizen of Lesotho with a net worth of $10 billion in 2021.
Speaking to the media recently, Matekane said he had great ambitions for the country, including not drawing a salary.
Parliamentary Seating Debacle
Electoral authorities in Lesotho have said they incorrectly allocated parliamentary seats after the October 7 election, asking the country's top court to amend the allocations and halt the legislature's first sitting, court papers showed on Saturday.
The populist Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), founded by Matekane, won the most seats, but fell short of an overall majority in the southern African kingdom's 120-member parliament.
Lesotho’s Challenges
Lesotho has an array of social challenges ranging from corruption and nepotism, climate change challenges which affects food production and agriculture, ongoing political instability and growing poverty.
The business community in Lesotho also cites the lack of adequate physical infrastructure, such as good road infrastructure and electricity.
Former Lesotho foreign minister Tlohang Sekhamane has been elected new speaker of the country’s parliament following elections that took place on Tuesday.
The speaker elections took place during the televised first sitting of Lesotho’s 11th parliament following the elections.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent recently, Matekane indicated that he would channel his salary back into projects that would benefit the locals.
The RFP says that it is a firm believer that the state is responsible for providing regulatory oversight on the free-market system to ensure harmony between public and private interests.
The party says it believes that it is the responsibility of government to address economic and social issues such as education, healthcare, food security, social security, poverty eradication and public infrastructure.
Last week, the party struck a coalition deal with two other opposition parties as the country looks to emerge from years of political instability under the former ruling All Basotho Convention, which had been in power since 2017.
Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with a population of 2.1 million people. Under the constitution, the king is head of state but does not actively participate in political activities.