Nicole Tau
A Facebook post alleges that Lesotho’s Parliament is working on passing a law in 2026 making it a crime for a man to have only one wife.
On 31 March 2025, a Facebook user (14K followers) shared in a Facebook group (327.1K members) that Parliament is outlawing monogamous marriage from 2026. The post warns men that choosing “only one wife” would become a prosecutable offence under the new legislation.
Translation: Parliament is passing a law indicating that it will be against the law for a man to have one wife starting from 2026
According to Neo Mokatsa, the Public Relations Officer for the National Assembly of Lesotho, there is no bill or motion before Parliament that seeks to ban monogamous unions. Speaking to MISA Lesotho on 21 May 2025, Mokatsa stated that any new marriage-related law would need to be introduced as a bill by a minister, scrutinized in committee, debated by both chambers, and receive royal assent, none of which has occurred for such a proposal.
A review of Lesotho’s two primary marriage statutes, the Marriage Act 1974 and customary marriage provisions, shows they allow both monogamous and polygynous unions, with no clauses penalizing men for having only one wife.
The National Assembly confirms that there is no motion or bill aiming to outlaw monogamy. Moreover, current laws permit monogamy and both statutory and customary marriage frameworks in Lesotho recognize monogamous marriages without punishment. The claim is false because no such legislative proposal exists.
Misinformation about personal status laws can spark unnecessary panic and social friction. False claims that monogamy will be criminalized risk confusing citizens about their rights, undermining trust in democratic processes, and fueling baseless speculation about cultural and legal norms.
This fact-check was produced by Nicole Tau, CheckDesk, MISA Lesotho, as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with MISA Lesotho. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
