Mahao Johane, Lineo Johnson
Youth participation denotes the meaningful involvement of young people in their communities’ socio-economic and political development processes at the community, national, and international levels. However, meaningful youth participation in developing countries becomes a concern, as young people are often excluded from policy decisions that affect them now and have implications for their future. This raises questions about how spaces for participation are created and accessed. This article critiques three Basotho Indigenous theories: thakaneng, khotla, and lebollo/mophatong. Through a desktop method, this study employed a comprehensive literature review of the three Indigenous theories on youth participation in the typical Basotho cultural context, and their value to Basotho culture and youth participation in community development. Generally, the theories were discussed regarding their relevance to the study’s focus.