Molapo
We could not open a Wikipedia article on Molapo, and what is recorded about him here comes from passing mentions in other articles. Wikipedia’s article on Moshoeshoe I names Molapo among the children of ‘Mamabela (‘MaMohato), the senior wife, with Letsie, Masopha, Majara and a daughter, Mathe. Its article on Letsie I says that in June 1833 Letsie and his brother Molapo escorted the first Paris Evangelical missionaries to Thaba Bosiu and Morija, and that after 1870 Molapo was based at Leribe, with Letsie at Matsieng and Masopha at Thaba Bosiu. Wikipedia’s article on Masopha says Masopha left for Cape Town in 1845 with “his brothers Letsie and Morapo”, which looks like a variant spelling of Molapo, though it does not say so.
His sons
The Masopha article says that at a pitso on 3 July 1879 Masopha and his nephew Joel Molapo called for armed resistance to the disarmament law, and that Jonathan Molapo withdrew his support for Masopha after the siege of Thaba Bosiu began (the article gives January 1898 for that siege). Which of Molapo’s sons was chosen to succeed him, and why, we have not been able to confirm from a source we could read.
What we have not read
We have not read Burman’s Chiefdom Politics and Alien Law (1981), Eldredge’s Power in Colonial Africa (2007), or Machobane and Karschay (1990), which the Masopha article cites; or the Boston University article on succession disputes in Lesotho, which appeared in a search. We found no source for Molapo’s birth or death dates, his wives, or the chiefdom of Leribe’s own history, and we have not found a Molapo family account.
Izithakazelo (lithoko) and totem
We found no recorded praises for Molapo, so we are printing none. If you belong to the Molapo family and recite your lithoko, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
Do you belong to the Molapo family? Tell us the history you know and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.