Mokhosi oa Afrika

‘Mokhosi oa Afrika’ makes an interesting pairing with the next song in this volume, ‘Tsohang Maafrika’ (Rise Up, Africans, JPM076), for both of them overtly encourage the idea of, literally, an uprising, i.e. independence, for nations on the African continent, and not only Mohapeloa’s homeland, Lesotho. This was a growing theme in the wake of World War II, where many Africans fought alongside the Allies and felt angry at still belonging to a European colony, afterwards. In an ironic reversal, Mohapeloa’s text calls upon the values of education and Christianity – values inculcated by the colonial powers – as tools with which to seek freedom and independence from those very powers, recalling that ‘God helps those who help themselves’.