The Powers of Lesotho Monarchy and the Constitutional Instruments: The Chicken and Egg Question

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.