Mokhehle was born in Teyateyaneng. He founded the Basutoland Congress Party (renamed Basotho Congress Party after independence in 1966) in 1952 and led the party until 1997 when he resigned and formed a new political party, Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).
He did not attend an LCD conference in late January 1998 due to poor health and did not seek to be re-elected as party leader, but the party re-elected him anyway. After Mokhehle insisted he could not lead the party any longer, a new conference was held and Deputy Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili was elected as party leader on 21 February.[1] The LCD won the parliamentary election that followed, and Mosisili replaced Mokhehle as Prime Minister.