Lesotho PM to resign

The Prime Minister of Lesotho Thomas Thabane will step down as leader of the country, his party announced on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) party told AFP news that Mr Thabane had offered his resignation to cabinet on Tuesday. At present there is no confirmed date when the prime minister will step down but Montoeli Masoetsa told the news agency that it would be “soon”. 

No explanation has been given for Mr Thabane’s resignation, although the party asked him to step down last week after court documents named him as a person of interest in the 2017 murder of his estranged wife Lipolelo Thabane. Senior members of the party have accused Thabane of hindering the murder investigation.

Police have also issued an arrest warrant for the prime minister’s current wife, Messiah Thabane, after she failed to present herself for questioning on January 10th in connection with the murder investigation. 

At the time of Mr Thabane’s election victory in 2017, the two women were involved in a legal battle over who should become first lady. The courts ruled in favour of Lipolelo Thabane, despite her estrangement from her husband. She was found shot dead two days before her husband’s inauguration. 

Photo credit: GCIS