Moeketsi Majoro (born 3 November 1961) 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 A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the cabinet of Tom Thabane from 2017 to 2020. Majoro has been representing the Thetsane Constituency No. 33 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 repr ...

since his election in 2017. He was formerly a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and the minister of Development Planning from 2013 to 2015. Majoro is a member of the All Basotho Convention (ABC).

Early life and education

Moeketsi Majoro was born on 3 November 1961 in Tsikoane,

Leribe District Leribè is a Districts of Lesotho, district of Lesotho. It has an area of 2,828 km2 and a population in 2016 of approximately 337,500. Hlotse is the capital or Camptown (Lesotho), camptown of the district. The district has one additional town, ...

, in

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...

. He obtained a

BA degree A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Economics from 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 ...

and achieved both a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Natural Resource Economics and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

Career

Majoro was a lecturer in economics at the National University of Lesotho between 1991 and 2000. He joined the finance ministry as a fiscal analyst in 2000 and worked in the position before he was promoted to be the principal secretary in 2004. He served the Africa Group 1 Constituency of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF) as both Executive Director and Alternate Executive Director between 2008 and 2012. In January 2013, Majoro was appointed Minister of Development Planning by Prime Minister Tom Thabane. He had earlier been appointed as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. The government was voted out in the 2015 general election. In the 2017 general election, he was elected the MP for the Thetsane Constituency No. 33. Thabane returned as Prime Minister and appointed him the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. In 2020, Thabane came under pressure to resign due to his alleged involvement in his ex-wife's murder. On 22 March 2020, the ABC Group in the National Assembly elected Majoro as Thabane's successor with 26 out of 46 votes.

Premiership

On 12 May 2020, Majoro was announced as the incoming Prime Minister after Thabane had lost his majority in the legislature. Thabane announced his resignation on 18 May with it taking effect the next day. Majoro was sworn in as Prime Minister on 20 May. He announced his cabinet the following day, which included Democratic Congress leader Mathibeli Mokhothu as his deputy. It consists of mostly ABC and DC MPs with other opposition party leaders serving in the cabinet. Majoro made his first international trip as Prime Minister on 12 June to

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 ...

and met with President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

Personal life

Majoro is married to 'Masekoalane 'Mamusa Rankhelepe. The couple have two children.

References

External links

Management - Honourable Minister

Meet Lesotho’s new prime minister designate, Moeketsi Majoro – EWN
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Majoro, Moeketsi Living people 1961 births Prime ministers of Lesotho People from Leribe District Government ministers of Lesotho Finance ministers of Lesotho Members of the National Assembly (Lesotho) Members of the Senate (Lesotho) National University of Lesotho alumni Washington State University alumni All Basotho Convention politicians