Africa/Heroes’ Day

May 25 commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity by 32 independent states in Addis Ababa in 1963. The OAU became the African Union in 2002, while the date remained Africa Day. Lesotho was not a founding member because it was still the British territory of Basutoland; it joined the OAU on October 31, 1966, weeks after independence.

Lesotho’s sources use more than one official name. The Washington embassy calls it Africa’s Heroes’ Day, the National Development Corporation lists Africa Day, and the 2003 amendment is understood to have replaced the old April 4 Heroes Day with the May 25 observance. The dual title preserves that local commemorative layer without claiming that one agreed list of heroes or one political interpretation is shared nationwide.

Africa/Heroes’ Day is treated as a nationwide public holiday under the Public Holidays Act 1995 as amended and Lesotho’s current official calendars. Section 3 permits the King, acting on ministerial advice, to appoint an additional day only by Gazette notice. The Act has no automatic Saturday-or-Sunday substitution rule: section 5 concerns negotiable instruments, not replacement leave. Under section 185 of the Labour Act 2024, a worker whose normal workday is the holiday receives a paid day off; holiday work attracts double pay, or by agreement normal pay plus a paid working day off in lieu.