On 7 July 1965, Chief Leabua Jonathan was sworn in as prime minister of Lesotho. He remains the youngest person to hold the office in the independent country.
ON this day in 1965, Chief Leabua Jonathan was sworn in as prime minister of Lesotho. He remains the youngest person to hold the office in independent Lesotho. He was 51.
His predecessor, Chief Sekhonyana Maseribane, was younger still, at 47 when he served in 1965, before independence in 1966. Counting every prime minister, Leabua Jonathan is the second youngest at his swearing-in.
The next youngest after him is Pakalitha Mosisili [internal link: Pakalitha Mosisili], who was 53 when he took office in 1998.
| Prime minister | Age | Year |
| Sekhonyana Maseribane | 47 | 1965 |
| Leabua Jonathan | 51 | 1965 |
| Pakalitha Mosisili | 53 | 1998 |
Maseribane served before Lesotho’s independence in 1966. Jonathan is the youngest of the independent era.
Leabua Jonathan led the Basotho National Party into the 1965 election and took the country into independence the following year. He held the office until 1986.
