Ntlhoi Motsamai

Motsamai entered politics in 1996, when she was elected deputy speaker of the National Assembly.[1] Lesotho's constitution does not restrict the speakership or the deputy speakership to members of parliament, only requiring that ministers cannot be elected to those positions.[2] Motsamai succeeded to the speakership in 1999, following the death of John Teboho Kolane. She became Lesotho's first female speaker, and was also believed to be the youngest speaker in Africa. When she took office, the National Assembly had only three female MPs.[3]

In 2005, Motsamai nominated Bereng Sekhonyana to represent Lesotho at a SADC parliamentary reform conference in Botswana. Justin Lekhanya (the leader of the Basotho National Party) objected to her decision, and subsequently organised a series of protests at the National Assembly buildings. The assembly's privileges committee subsequently found that Lekhanya and four other BNP members had threatened and intimidated Motsamai, and recommended that they be suspended from parliament without pay for up to five months. Sekhonyana was assassinated two days after that finding was handed down.[4]

In February 2012, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili left the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party to form a new party, the Democratic Congress. He was joined by 44 other members of parliament. When parliament returned, Motsamai (who had joined the new party) asked MPs to stand in the seats to show their support for Mosisili's government, and subsequently ruled that he still had control of the assembly and could thus remain in power.[5] Her ruling was controversial, as Lesotho's electoral law prevents members elected on a party list from switching parties mid-term.[6] Thabang Kholumo, the deputy leader of the Popular Front for Democracy, said that Motsamai's ruling was unconstitutional, as she had usurped King Letsie III's power to nominate the prime minister, while Tom Thabane, the leader of the All Basotho Convention, called for Motsamai and Mosisili to be arrested for treason.[7]

Mosisili's government was defeated at the 2012 general election, and Motsamai was replaced as speaker by Sephiri Motanyane. She was re-elected to the speakership in March 2015, following the 2015 general election, when the Democratic Congress returned to power at the head of a coalition government. She won the speakership election 66–53, in a vote along party lines.[8]