Lesotho activist arrested after video on unemployment rates angers prime minister

Tšolo Thakeli had long campaigned on youth joblessness, but a post questioning Sam Maketane’s promises on work creation landed him in prison

It took a single video complaining about Lesotho’s unemployment rate to turn Tšolo Thakeli into the prime minister’s enemy. Within a day of posting there were armed police at his door.

It was Father’s Day, and the 31-year-old father of two was in his pyjamas when they arrived. He had no idea his post would land him in trouble; after all, he had campaigned for a long time, under different governments, for action on jobs for young people.