Prime Minister Thomas Thabane says respect for civilian authority has been restored in his forces.

The Southern African Development Community moved its security force into Maseru last December following the killing of army chief Khoantle Motsomotso by a rival group within the Lesotho defence force.

This followed two months after a snap election brought Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to power at the head of a coalition 

Two years earlier former army chief Maaparankoe Mahao was gunned down for allegedly resisting arrest.

SADC executive secretary Stergomena Tax says good progress has been made in  restoring security in Lesotho following a failed coup in 2014.

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The SADC summit hosted by President Jacob Zuma also calls on Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to implement the security sector and constitutional called for by the regional organization.

Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane says he’s sure the measures agreed by SADC leaders today will be good for his country.

As a reformist, he’s committed to implementing the reforms called for by SADC.

The communique issues the end of today’s summit doesn’t specify how long the military, security and intelligence experts will stay in the kingdom.

Swazi King Mswati III was the only head of state to join President Jacob Zuma at the gathering.

Angola, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia  were all represented by senior ministers.

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Premier Thomas Thabane says everything in the mountain kingdom is under control.

SADC didn’t mince its words about the killing of Lieutenant General Khoantle Motsomotso, calling it an inexcusable, barbaric and heinous act.

The regional body is sending a fact-finding mission to Lesotho to avert the possibility of a further deterioration of security.

There’ve been no reported arrests after the killing of Motsomotso and two officers guarding him.

The killers are believed to have been shot down by troops as they tried to escape the military compound where the attack took place.

Dependent on Lesotho’s water flowing into Gauteng, South Africa’s expected to play a key role in restoring order in the kingdom it surrounds.

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A ministerial mission from the region will arrive there tomorrow to gauge the best response to this development.

From China, where he’s attending the BRICS summit, President Jacob Zuma sends his condolences to the family and friends of Lieutenant General Khoantle Motsomotso.

He was gunned down by an army officer who’d recently been fired.

Zuma notes that two years ago the then army chief  Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao was killed.

Lesotho premier Thomas Thabane, who was returned to power in June’s elections after being ousted in a coup three years ago promised that his country would no longer be the bad boy of  SADC.

He may have spoken too soon.

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Defence Minister Sentile Lebona has confirmed the death.

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Lesotho’s army commander was shot dead at his home by rival military officers, according to officials in the mountain kingdom.

Defence official Ramanka Mokaloba says in addition to Lieutenant General Khoantle Motsomotso’s death, one soldier was killed during the attack and another injured.

A press conference is scheduled to be held later in the day.

Lesotho has been beset by power struggles and concerns about military interference in politics. The country has seen a number of high-profile assassinations, including the 2015 killing of a former army chief.

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane  won elections in June, returning him to power three years after he fled Lesotho because of fears he was an assassination target.

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No party has secured enough votes to govern alone.

Saturday’s parliamentary election in Lesotho two years ahead of schedule was intended to ease tensions after an attempted coup last August.

The All Basotho Convention of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, who fled to South Africa to avoid being overthrown, has won 40 out of 80 constituencies.

The Democratic Congress of former premier Pakalitha Mosisili has taken 37.

Two other parties hold the other three constituencies.

The exact make-up of the 120-member parliament will be announced today as 40 seats are allocated proportionate to votes cast – and there were 23 parties participating.

No single party will be able to get the 61 seats needed to rule outright.

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The crisis talks in Pretoria were necessitated by recent renewed tensions in the country that experienced an abortive coup at the end of August.

After talks with Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and the Lesotho leadership, President Jacob Zuma’s office expresses its confidence that the climate for the holding of elections on the 28^th of February remains on course.

Zuma hosted the talks in his capacity as chairman of the SADC peace and security organ.

The talks followed a shootout between the army and the prime minister’s bodyguards at a checkpoint in the capital Maseru killed a bystander and injured two of the premier’s bodyguards on February 1.

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Ramaphosa’s visiting the mountain kingdom in his role as regional facilitator following the August coup attempt that sent Thabane briefly into exile in South Africa.

Lesotho authorities haven’t named the South African police officer whom they accuse of sabotaging premier Tom Thabane’s security.

They have not supplied detail to motivate their suspicions.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, through his spokesman, and the head of the SADC mission in Lesotho are not commenting on the call by Thabane’s disparate coalition government.

South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe have supplied police to protect the prime minister after the attempted coup.

The officer responsible for this Lt. Genl Tlali Kamoli has not honoured a promise to turn himself in and quit the kingdom.

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Prime Minister Thomas Thabane maintained the standoff with Tlali Kamoli, who’s protected by a few loyal special forces members, made it too dangerous to recall parliament.

For some time now, it has been about the money.

Officials at a regional summit on Lesotho in Pretoria last month were saying General Tlali Kamoli would stand down in exchange for two years salary and a diplomatic posting.

In the end, SADC special facilitator Cyril Ramaphosa has negotiated a pension and a partial amnesty from prosecution for the general.

This could leave him facing charges of murder for the policeman killed during the August 30 coup but not being tried for high treason.

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The legislature will pass a budget and make preparations for elections next February.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa expected to spend three days in Lesotho.

He’ll see King Letsie III who will preside over the ceremony opening parliament on Friday

Ramaphosa negotiated a way through the political impasse that caused Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to shutter the legislature last June to avoid facing a no confidence debate that he was bound lose to dissident members of his coalition government and the opposition.

A regional summit in Pretoria last month determined that parliament in Maseru will dissolve at the beginning of December, having prepared the road for elections

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