Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa (born 13 August 1945 [1] ) is a Lesotho politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lesotho from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Cabinet beginning in July 2001, first as Minister of Finance, then as Foreign Minister, Minister of Education, and starting in March 2007 as Foreign Minister again.
Tsekoa served in the Ministry of Education as Deputy Principal Secretary from 1984 to 1986 and as Principal Secretary from 1986 to 1989. In 1989, he became High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. He left these posts in 1996, when he became Government Secretary and Head of the Public Service. [1]
After serving as Government Secretary for five years, Tsekoa was appointed to the Senate and sworn in on June 14, 2001. [2] He was then named Minister of Finance on July 5, 2001 [3] and sworn in on July 6. [4] As the LCD candidate for Senqu constituency, in Mokhotlong District, in the May 2002 parliamentary election, he won with 55.8% of the vote; this was Tsekoa's first election. [5] He was moved from his position as Finance Minister to that of Minister of Foreign Affairs in June 2002. [6] He became Minister of Education in November 2004 [7] and served in that position until March 2, 2007, when he became Foreign Minister again. [8]
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili is a former Mosotho politician who was the fourth prime minister of Lesotho from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017. He led the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to a near-total victory in the 1998 election, and under his leadership the party also won majorities in the 2002 and 2007 elections. While serving as Prime Minister, Mosisili was also Minister of Defence.
The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on the 40th anniversary of Lesotho's independence on 4 October 2006, features a horizontal blue, white, and green tricolour with a black mokorotlo in the center. The design is intended to reflect a state that is both at peace internally and with its only neighbour South Africa, replacing the old flag design that featured a military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie.
Thomas Motsoahae Thabane is a Mosotho politician who was the fifth prime minister of Lesotho from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2020. He founded the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in 2006 and led the party until 2022.
Monyane Moleleki is a Mosotho politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho, as well as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, from 2017 to 2020. As a leading figure in the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Moleleki was Minister of Natural Resources from 1993 to 1994, Minister of Information from 1996 to 1998, Minister of Natural Resources from 1998 to 2004, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2007, and Minister of Natural Resources from 2007 to 2012. After breaking with the LCD, Moleleki served as Deputy Leader of the Democratic Congress and was Minister of Police from 2015 to 2016. He left the Democratic Congress and launched a new party, the Alliance of Democrats, in 2017.
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état.
The Lesotho People's Congress is a political party in Lesotho. It was formed as a split from the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) by that party's Lesiba faction after Deputy Prime Minister Kelebone Maope resigned from the government in September 2001, and it was registered on October 8, 2001. Maope became the leader of the LPC; another leading member of the LCD, Shakhane Mokhehle, also became a leading member of the LPC. It gained 27 seats in the National Assembly through defections from the LCD. The new party closely identified itself with former prime minister Ntsu Mokhehle, the founder of the LCD, and used an image of his head as its party symbol. The LCD sought to prevent the LPC from using his head as its symbol, but on December 6 the High Court ruled in favor of the LPC. In the parliamentary election for the National Assembly held on 25 May 2002, the party won 5.8% of popular votes and 5 out of 120 seats. Maope was the only LPC candidate to win a constituency, but the party won four other seats through proportional representation. Maope and Shakhane Mokhehle did not include themselves on the party's list of candidates for proportional representation, expecting to win constituencies, but Mokhehle lost his constituency by nine votes, and therefore did not get a seat in the National Assembly.
The National Independent Party is a political party in Lesotho.
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya was the Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Military Council of Lesotho from 24 January 1986 to 2 May 1991.
The Communist Party of Lesotho is a communist party in Lesotho, founded on May 5, 1962. The founding secretary of the party was John Motloheloa. Other early leaders of the party included Mokhafisi Kena and Sefali Malefane. Edward Mofutsanyana was a member of the Communist Party of South Africa Central Committee but had no part in the Lesotho party. Joe Matthews of the South African Communist Party financed the launch of the Lesotho party but later supported the ANC-allied Marematlou Freedom Party. The South African Communist Party, the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party and Walter Ulbricht of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany sent greetings on the occasion of the founding of the party. The party began publishing Mosebetsi.
Ntsu Mokhehle was a Lesotho politician. He founded Basutoland African Congress (BAC) in 1952. He founded Basutoland Congress Party in 1957 then later in 1997 founded Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). He served as the third prime minister of Lesotho from 2 April 1993 to 17 August 1994 and from 14 September 1994 to 29 May 1998.
The All Basotho Convention is a political party in Lesotho. The party was formed in October 2006 and founded by Tom Thabane, a former minister in the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) led by the government of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. Nkaku Kabi has led the party since February 2022.
Pontso S. M. Sekatle is a politician and academic in Lesotho. Sekatle lectured at the National University of Lesotho from 1984 to 2001. In June 2001, she was appointed to the Senate of Lesotho, and on July 6, 2001 she became Minister of Health and Social Welfare. She was a member of the Qacha's Nek constituency for third time with the win in the elections in 2012 and was appointed the Minister of Local government and Chieftainship Affairs.
Archibald Lesao Lehohla is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs and Public Safety of Lesotho.
Sydney Tigere Sekeramayi is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Defence between 2013 and 2017. He has been a minister in the Cabinet since independence in 1980, serving as Minister of Defence from 2001 to 2009 and Minister of State Security from 2009 to 2013.
Kelebone Albert Maope is a politician from Lesotho. He served in the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) and Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) governments during the 1990s before splitting from the LCD in 2001 to form his own party, the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations is a cabinet ministry of Lesotho in charge of conducting and designing the foreign relations of the country.
Camillo Michael Gonsalves is a Vincentian politician, lawyer and diplomat. Gonsalves is the current Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as the current representative for the constituency of East St. George.
Moeketsi Majoro is a Mosotho economist and politician who served as the sixth prime minister of Lesotho from May 2020 to October 2022. He was previously the minister of Finance in the cabinet of Tom Thabane from 2017 to 2020. Majoro has been representing the Thetsane Constituency No. 33 in the National Assembly since his election in 2017. He was formerly a senator and the minister of Development Planning from 2013 to 2015. Majoro is a member of the All Basotho Convention (ABC).
'Matšepo Ramakoae is a Lesotho politician. She was serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations from May 2020 to October 2022. She is the legislator from the Matsieng constituency No. 45. Ramakoae served as the Deputy Minister of Finance from 2012 until 2015.
The Ministry of Finance of Lesotho is responsible for the public finances of Lesotho.