The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the transition to a democracy in Lesotho,
since its independence in 1966, has resulted in the socio-economic development and an
improvement in the lives of citizens in this country.
Lesotho is a small, landlocked state, covering 30350sq. km. The estimated population
according to the 2006 Census is 1 880 661 (Lesotho Bureau of Statistics, 2006). In the SADC
region Lesotho has one of the lowest levels of urbanisation, estimated at 18.7 per cent in
2005 (UNDP, 2007).