E, Molimo Ok’o Boloke Motlotlehi le Sechaba

Mohapeloa wrote ‘E, Molimo Ok’o Boloke Motlotlehi le Sechaba’ in 1974, publishing it in Cape Town in 1976 as song No. 7 of 25 in Meluluetsa ea Ntšetso-pele le Bosechaba Lesotho (Anthems for the Development of the Lesotho Nation). It is in praise of Lesotho’s monarch, King Moshoeshoe II, who adopted the name ‘Motlotlehi’ when Lesotho became independent in 1966. To write a song in praise of the King in 1974 and publish it in 1976 was no insignificant political act, since the role of the monarchy in post-independence Lesotho was fragile and ambivalent, and oppositional voices were often silenced.