Mathibeli Edwin Mokhothu (born 20 March 1977) is a

Mosotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

educator and politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of the

Kingdom of Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a populatio ...

, as well as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, from 2020 to 2022. A member of the

Democratic Congress The Democratic Congress is a political party in Lesotho that split from the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. It is led by Mathibeli Mokhothu. History Before the 2012 election, the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy split, with Prime Minis ...

, he is the party's leader and previous deputy leader. He was formerly the Leader of the Opposition in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

before the party formed part of a coalition with the

All Basotho Convention The All Basotho Convention (ABC; ) 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 ...

in May 2020. From 2015 to 2017, he served as the Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation. Mokhothu is the MP for the Qhoali No. 68 constituency.

Early life and education

Mathibeli Edwin Mokhothu was born on 20 March 1977 in Thaba-Chitja Ha-Potso,

Quthing District Quthing is a district of Lesotho. Moyeni (also known as Quthing), is the camp town or capital of the district. There are two of the most important sets of dinosaur footprints in the region. There is a large panel of Bushman paintings at Qomoqomon ...

. His father was a miner. He studied at both the Lesotho College of Education and the

National University of Lesotho The National University of Lesotho, the main and oldest university in Lesotho, is located in Roma, southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnifi ...

Political career

Mokhothu started his political career by joining the

Lesotho Congress for Democracy The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is a political party in Lesotho. In 1997, Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle left the Basutoland Congress Party to form with his faction the new Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The new party won the 1998 ele ...

and later joined the

. He was first elected to the

for the Qhoali No. 68 constituency in the 2012 general election. He was re-elected in the 2015 general election as the Democratic Congress emerged as the largest party without a majority. Democratic Congress leader

Pakalitha Mosisili Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili (born 14 March 1945) 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. Mokhothu became deputy leader of the

in December 2016. The coalition government collapsed in 2017 and a subsequent

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held. The incumbent government was voted out and succeeded by a coalition led by the

. Mosisili announced his retirement from politics in November 2018. An elective conference was held in January 2019, in which Mokhothu was elected the leader. He received 1,681 votes versus 84 for his opponent

Tlohang Sekhamane Tlohang Sekhamane is a politician from Lesotho who is serving as the Speaker of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bica ...

. He consequently became the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. In May 2020, All Basotho Convention leader

Tom Thabane Thomas Motsoahae Thabane (born 28 May 1939) 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. Thabane s ...

resigned as Prime Minister after his coalition partners withdrew their support. Finance minister Moeketsi Majoro was appointed his successor and formed a government that included the Democratic Congress and other parties. Mokhothu was selected as both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.

References

External links

I’m no novice, says Mokhothu – The Post Lesotho
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokhothu, Mathibeli Living people 1977 births Members of the National Assembly (Lesotho) Government ministers of Lesotho National University of Lesotho alumni Lesotho Congress for Democracy politicians Democratic Congress politicians Sotho people People from Quthing District