Abstract:
This paper articulates whether the King of the Kingdom of Lesotho derives his
powers from the country’s constitution. Given that the institution of monarchy
in Lesotho pre-dates any constitutional instruments ever adopted by the
country, one may argue that it is consequently wrong to assert that the powers
of the Lesotho Monarch derive from, and is limited by the Constitution. Based
on secondary sources and decided cases, this paper evidently argued that the
current monarch of Lesotho derives his administrative powers from the
country’s constitution. The post-independence 1966 Constitution of the
Kingdom of Lesotho and the subsequent one in 1993 provide the limitations to
the powers of the monarch as a constitutional rather than an absolute Monarch.
This constitutional prescription relates however to the political powers and not
other forms of powers that the King possesses in the cultural and religious
realms.
