Matšepo Ramakoae (née Molise; born 3 March 1954) is a

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

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.

Early life and career

'Matšepo Molise was born on 3 March 1954 in

Morija Morija is a town in western Lesotho, located 35 kilometres south of the capital, Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the ...

as the second out of nine children of James Koko Molise and 'Mamolise Molise. Her father worked as a miner in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, while her mother was the domestic worker of French missionaries. Molise attended Lesotho High School in Maseru. Soon after finishing school, she married and took her husband's surname. She started her professional career as a civil servant. She attained a degree in accounting and went on to attend the

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

, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1981. From then on, she was employed in the office of the Prime Minister. At the same time, she attended management courses in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In 1991, she obtained a master's degree in Policy Analysis in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Around this time, she separated from her husband. Upon her return from the Netherlands, she was appointed to the Auditor General's office where she worked in the performance audit department. In 1999, she began working as a principal secretary in the newly established Ministry of Defence. She was the first woman to work in the department and was primarily responsible for the budget.

Political career

In 2006, Ramakoae joined the newly founded

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 Pakalith ...

. She left public service and ran as the ABC candidate in the Matsieng constituency in the 2007 election. She lost to 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 e ...

candidate. She then started working as a farmer and ran a catering service. Politically, she was active at the ABC's grassroots level. In the 2012 election, she ran again in the Matsieng constituency. She won this time and was sworn in as a Member 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 bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Prime Minister

Thomas 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 ...

named her the Deputy Minister of Finance in his first cabinet. The coalition government collapsed in 2015 and was voted out in the subsequent general election. She lost re-election as an MP, but won the constituency back in the 2017 general election. She was selected to head the parliamentary committee for women's issues. In early-2020, Thabane came under pressure to resign as Prime Minister due to his alleged involvement in his former spouse's murder. Ramakoae was considered a strong contender, but was ultimately not selected as the party chose Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro to succeed Thabane. Majoro was sworn in on 20 May. He appointed her Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations in his cabinet. She took office on 21 May. Ramakoae is the first woman to hold this role.

References

External links

Honourable 'Matṥepo Ramakoae – Government of LesothoHon. Mats'epo Ramakoae – WOC Summit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramakoae, 'Matsepo Living people 1954 births National University of Lesotho alumni All Basotho Convention politicians Members of the National Assembly (Lesotho) Women government ministers of Lesotho 21st-century women politicians Foreign ministers of Lesotho Female foreign ministers People from Maseru District