YEARS AGO

Lesotho’s King Moshoeshoe II announced from exile in London this week that he will return home by the end of July, under an agreement reached in the United Kingdom with Lesotho’s military ruler, Major General Elias Ramaema.

As Lesotho approaches the November elections to return the country to civilian government after six years of military rule, the matter of the king’s return is a wild card that could upset the military regime’s management of the exercise.

It is not clear whether the exiled king will return as Lesotho’s monarch or merely as a traditional chief.

Characterising himself as a regal champion of democracy, Moshoeshoe stated he expects the people of Lesotho to determine whether he should reign.

The agreement says Moshoeshoe can return, but leaves his status unclear. It is a vague compromise, which states the king should return to Lesotho in “a manner which enhances the prospects of peace, stability and national reconciliation”.

June 12 to 18 1992