Military coup is executed in Lesotho

On 30 April 1991, the head of the Lesotho military, Maj.Gen Justin Lekhanya was ousted by rebel junior officers. The reasons for this coup was a long standing dissatisfaction with military leadership that had governed Lesotho since 1986, the ousting of the king of Lesotho and widespread corruption within the ranks of the military and the legislature. General Lekhanya, a 45-year-old career policeman, had served on the ruling council that governed Lesotho since 1986. He came to power as the head of a junta that had pledged to root out corruption. Lekhanya subsequently stripped all power from the monarchy, exiled the then king of Lesotho, Moshoeshoe, and replaced him with his son, Letsie. Lekhanya had promised to restore civilian rule to Lesotho by June 1992, but had not made any progress in this regard.  This prompted South Africa and Namibia to put pressure on Lesotho to institute a democratic regime. The uprising against the General's rule began on 29 April, when some military units went on strike to demand better wages. This strike eventually turned into a coup when it became clear that the  General had no intention of addressing the demands. Soldiers supporting the labour action then surrounded his residence, and he was forced to resign.   References: Lesotho Military Leader ousted by Army Officers(online), available at: nytimes.com [Accessed 20 April 2010] Matlosa.K. & Pule.N.W, (2001), The Military in Lesotho, African Security Review, Vol.10, No.2  (online), available at: iss.co.za [Accessed 20 April 2010] About Lesotho: Political History Milestones (online), available at: lesothoembassyrome.com [Accessed 20 April 2010] Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.