{"id":25944,"date":"2023-03-02T16:08:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T16:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-village-girl-to-mp"},"modified":"2023-03-02T16:51:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T16:51:26","slug":"from-village-girl-to-mp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-village-girl-to-mp","title":{"rendered":"\u2018From village girl to MP\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Mamokete Nts\u030cekhe, always elegantly dressed, nowadays delivers lively debates in Parliament. But it has not always been like that. Nts\u030cekhe knows what it means to be poor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to have a crust of dirt on my body,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe, the first woman to be elected into parliament in the Mphosong constituency, says.<\/p>\n

Growing up in the hard-to-reach area of Bobete in Thaba-Tseka, Nts\u030cekhe\u2019s daily struggle was how she would survive the next day. \u201cLife was hard. I know the tough life of a Mosotho girl in the rural areas of the country.<\/p>\n

I know how to collect wood and draw water,\u201d she says. But she fought against all odds, underlining her resilience as a politician who has refused to be defined by her background.<\/p>\n

Her fortunes now have dramatically changed. Today as an MP she is fighting for the betterment of the people of her Mphosong constituency. A mother and a nurse, Nts\u030cekhe says she has experienced debilitating stories from women suffering from abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be the voice of the voiceless in Parliament,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of injustice against women and girls in almost every corner of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201d During her days as a nurse, Nts\u030cekhe realised that these injustices against women need to be addressed. Men, she says, are the biggest perpetrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome women end up hiding their health booklets so that their husbands do not see that they are using family planning methods to prevent unplanned pregnancies,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an MP accords me an opportunity to amplify my efforts to protect women and other vulnerable groups. My experience as a nurse has shown me that many women are not even aware that they are being abused,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The job, she says, opened her eyes and pushed her to organise outreach programmes for men living in rural areas because \u201cthey seem to lack understanding on some family planning issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Calm and down to earth, Nts\u030cekhe is not one of those Basotho career politicians. \u201cI have never put on a T-shirt associated with any political party,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After successfully completing her studies at Khethisa High School, she enrolled with the National University of Lesotho (NUL) to pursue a BSc degree in Midwifery in 2005.<\/p>\n

When the Prime Minister Sam Matekane, a super-rich businessman, launched a political party, the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), Nts\u030cekhe decided to join the fray.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt an urge to join him to drive the vision, so I decided to contest the elections,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy work is no longer limited to advocacy. I now also make laws and policies in Parliament to protect vulnerable groups such as women.<\/p>\n

Awareness is also critical for women to know their rights. Women should know that there are many opportunities out there for them,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe says. Another cause for her is to ensure that women take part in mainstream economic activities.<\/p>\n

To achieve this, she says, women should get improved access to information. The plight of children failing to attend school because of lack of school fees is another of her concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be clear to parents that it is their responsibility to take their children to school in order to pave their future through education.<\/p>\n

It is heart-rending to see children looking after animals instead of going to schools,\u201d she says. She says there are also cases of child-headed families that affect some children\u2019s ability to go to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegrettably, children are the ones suffering and their education is compromised,\u201d laments Nts\u030cekhe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tried as a family to assist some children go to school but there are still many outside schools. We have limited resources to take a larger number,\u201d says Nts\u030cekhe, a businesswoman with interests in mining, technology and courier services.<\/p>\n

She says a pressing issue that needs urgent attention is the scourge of child marriages that are common in most rural areas in the country. \u201cWe have to make noise about this issue because it has a devastating impact on the lives of the girl child.<\/p>\n

Girls have to go to school so that they can get high paying jobs in future,\u201d she says, adding that parents should not look at the brideprice at the expense of their children\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

She alludes to her own success as an example of how education can change the fortunes of girls from poor backgrounds. For her high school studies, Nts\u030cekhe moved from Mokhotlong to Leribe\u2019s Khethisa in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is where I met my husband,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe recalls, adding that the father of her children is her soul mate and crediting him with supporting her political and business interests.<\/p>\n

After completing her studies at the NUL, she worked at Queen \u2019Mamohato Memorial Hospital but later left for South Africa to join her husband, who was already there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings were rough there. I had no job,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe says, attributing the situation to South Africa\u2019s long procedure for one to be admitted as a nurse.<\/p>\n

Faced with the difficulty, the couple started an Information and Technology (IT) company. \u201cAs a nurse, I did not have the skills to run the company. I knew nothing about IT issues.<\/p>\n

But I was effective as an administrator and overseer of the company,\u201d says Nts\u030cekhe, who helps the needy by doing sharecropping with them in their fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the scarce resources I have, I want to invest in rural development to change the economic landscape of my constituency,\u201d says Nts\u030cekhe, who holds a Masters in Nursing Intensive Care obtained from Wits University in South Africa in 2014.<\/p>\n

In 2021, a few months before becoming an MP, Nts\u030cekhe obtained a Certificate in Business Development and Entrepreneurship from UNISA. Nts\u030cekhe is in the process of enrolling with the University of Cape Town to pursue a Master\u2019s degree in Business Administration (MBA).<\/p>\n

She describes the death of her mother in 2010 as the saddest moment of her life. \u201cThree days before I graduated from the NUL, I lost my mother. What made matters worse for me is that she was sick. She just collapsed,\u201d says, fighting back some tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was crowned the best student in nursing but regrettably, my mother was not there to witness the moment,\u201d says Nts\u030cekhe, adding that her ultimate goal is to establish a foundation to take care of orphans and vulnerable children.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Mamokete Nts\u030cekhe, always elegantly dressed, nowadays delivers lively debates in Parliament. But it has not always been like that. Nts\u030cekhe knows what it means to be poor. \u201cI used to have a crust of dirt on my body,\u201d Nts\u030cekhe, the first woman to be elected into parliament in the Mphosong constituency, says. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,246,245,2181],"class_list":["post-25944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-mp"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018From village girl to MP\u2019 - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mamokete Nts\u030cekhe, always elegantly dressed, nowadays delivers lively debates in Parliament. 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