Indigenous jurisprudence and development administration in Lesotho: Moshoeshoe I and Mohlomi as governance archetypes

This article rethinks good governance and development administration in Lesotho through an indigenous jurisprudential lens, arguing that the normative foundations of effective public administration were articulated within pre-colonial Basotho political thought rather than derived solely from modern constitutionalism. By conceptualising Moshoeshoe I and Mohlomi as jurisprudential archetypes, it identifies enduring legal, ethical, and administrative standards relevant to contemporary development governance. Moshoeshoe and Mohlomi were not only ethical leaders, but models of administering authority, people, and resources in pursuit of collective development. Through a normative and historical-jurisprudential analysis of Moshoeshoe I's exercise of authority and Mohlomi's role as moral counsellor, the article shows that restraint, consultation, inclusivity, accountability, and moral limits on power structured the administration of public affairs. It contends that the erosion of these principles in post-independence Lesotho has contributed to executive dominance and weak accountability, and concludes that sustainable development administration requires not only institutional reform but a re-anchoring in indigenous jurisprudential values that historically disciplined power and prioritised the common good.