Prime Minister Sam Matekane confirmed a cabinet reshuffle on Monday after the Government Secretary’s Office issued a formal notice advising the public that King Letsie III had accepted a recommendation to reconstitute the Council of Ministers. The changes, announced under Proclamation No. 49 of 2026, take effect at a swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Palace Banqueting Hall in Maseru on Tuesday the 19th of May at 09:00HRS.
The most consequential move is the departure of Lebona Lephema from cabinet entirely. Lephema, who has served as Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, is relieved of his portfolio, a development that brings to a formal close weeks of mounting tension between his faction and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The announcement does not indicate a new assignment for Lephema, signalling a clean exit rather than a lateral move.
The Cabinet Changes
Three serving ministers are reassigned alongside Lephema’s departure. Motlatsi Maqelepo moves from the Ministry of Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture to Trade, Industry, Business Development and Employment, effectively inheriting the portfolio vacated by Lephema. Mputi Mputi transitions from the Ministry of Public Service to Culture, Sports, Arts and Tourism, filling the gap left by Maqelepo’s lateral move. Moeketsi Motšoane, a new entrant to the cabinet, is appointed as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Public Service.
Minister
Movement
Status
Lebona Lephema
Formerly: Trade, Industry & Business Development
Relieved of portfolio
Exits Cabinet
Motlatsi Maqelepo
Formerly: Tourism, Sports, Arts & Culture
→ Trade, Industry, Business Development & Employment
Reassigned
Mputi Mputi
Formerly: Public Service
→ Tourism, Sports, Arts & Culture
Reassigned
Moeketsi Motšoane
New appointment
Deputy Minister, Public Service
New Entry
Political Context
Lephema’s exit did not occur in a vacuum. His removal comes after a period in which the internal tensions of the Revolution for Prosperity party had broken into open view, most visibly when Nkhethoa Seetsa, named to fill a vacancy at the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, declined the posting and was not sworn in. That refusal, widely interpreted as a deliberate act of solidarity with the Lephema faction, was an early signal that the reshuffle’s fault lines ran deeper than routine cabinet management.
This is not a cabinet reorganisation. It is the formalisation of a succession move that has been under way since mid-2025.
Tribune Intelligence · Flash Brief · 18 May 2026
The reshuffle also formally resolves the question of who controls the Trade portfolio, one of the more commercially significant ministries in a government that has staked its credibility on private sector investment. Maqelepo’s appointment brings a new hand to a ministry that had become, in political terms, contested territory.
The diplomatic community has been formally notified. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations issued a verbal note, Note No. 18 (reference FR/CL/PROT/08), on Monday afternoon, summoning Heads of Diplomatic Mission and representatives of international organisations resident in Lesotho to witness the ceremony at the Royal Palace Banqueting Hall on Tuesday.
The Full Picture Is in Tribune Intelligence
What the official proclamation does not say is as significant as what it does. The factional architecture behind this reshuffle: who Lephema’s network inside the RFP includes, what his next move is most likely to be, how the coalition’s parliamentary arithmetic changes from Monday, and what a 30-day scenario framework looks like. All of it is the subject of this week’s Tribune Intelligence Flash Brief.
Tribune Intelligence carries the full analytical treatment: the Bottom Line Up Front, a source signal from inside the relevant circle, three calibrated scenarios with probability assessments, and a 72-hour watch list of observable indicators. This is the briefing that banks, investors, development finance institutions, and diplomatic missions in Maseru are reading to understand not just what happened, but what comes next, and what it means for the operating environment.
