| Description | One-time major party of pre and post independent Lesotho. Party was formed by Ntsu Mokhehle as the Basutoland African Congress (BAC), and renamed the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) in 1957. Party structure and philosophy was modeled on that of the ANC of South Africa. The BCP had a predominant position in Lesotho's rural electoral base, and was a major opponent of Lesotho's first post-independence Prime Minister, Leabua Jonathan (July 7, 1965 – January 20, 1986; deposed), and his party, the Basutoland National Party (BNP). The BCP took power after the 1993 legislative elections and the BCP's Ntsu Mokhehle became Lesotho's third prime minister on April 2, 1993 until May 29, 1998. Party began to collapse upon the departure of Mokhehle in 1997, who took away a large number of BCP members to form the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. Party symbol is the knobkerrie, the Zulu fighting stick.
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