{"id":27621,"date":"2023-04-17T11:05:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T11:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament"},"modified":"2023-04-17T11:48:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T11:48:50","slug":"from-taxi-rank-to-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament","title":{"rendered":"From taxi rank to Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>WHILE Lehlohonolo Mosoang might be a National Independent Party (NIP) MP, his heart is with the Democratic Congress (DC) leader Pakalitha Mosisili \u2013 his political godfather.<\/p>\n

He says he only joined the NIP instead of the DC because its leadership is more approachable than other political parties. Mosoang, arguably the youngest MP, says in terms of leadership style and achievements, \u201cMosisili surpasses all\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved his style of politics,\u201d Mosoang, the only MP for the NIP, says. He praises Mosisili for \u201cachieving a lot\u201d in terms of infrastructure development.<\/p>\n

He cited the building of schools and roads as some clear examples of his milestone achievements. \u201cDuring droughts, Mosisili would go out to seek food aid to save people from starvation.<\/p>\n

I take him as my role model in politics,\u201d he says. Growing up, Mosoang was not active in politics. \u201cBut I saw that there was a big gap in parliament to address problems affecting the youth.<\/p>\n

I realised that being in parliament would be a conduit through which I could make voices of the youths heard,\u201d he says. Mosoang believes the problems affecting youths can only be understood and solved by a person who understands young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here to help solve such problems,\u201d Mosoang says, adding that youths are desperate for jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who want start-up money for income generating projects usually struggle because they do not have the capital to translate their dreams into practicality.<\/p>\n

They are trapped in wretched poverty,\u201d he says. He accuses politicians of failing to keep their promises. Mosoang says he did not want to join \u201cbig politics\u201d because his chances of success would be slim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then looked around and the NIP came to my mind. There would be no long bureaucracy to meet the party\u2019s leadership as is the case in other parties,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mosoang has achieved what seemed impossible to those around him. The young man knows what it means to battle for passengers in the wee hours in the sleepy and filthy taxi rank of Quthing as a sedan taxi driver. He knows the rough and tough life of being hired as a driver where he would be given a daily target by taxi owners.<\/p>\n

Dressed in sneakers and jeans as he usually does when he is not in parliament, Mosoang says he was mocked by fellow drivers at the taxi rank when he told them about his wish to try his luck in the rough and tumble life of politics.<\/p>\n

But that did not dampen the 29-year-old\u2019s spirit. He contested in the October 7 polls under the NIP flag, led by Kimetso Mathaba in his home constituency of Sempe, which is sandwiched by the Sebapala and Qomo-Qomong rivers in Quthing district.<\/p>\n

Fellow drivers looked down on him because of his age and the party he wanted to use as a vehicle to parliament. \u201cThe NIP is not that popular like other big parties in the country.<\/p>\n

So when I disclosed to my colleagues that I had thrown my weight behind Mathaba, they laughed at me,\u201d Mosoang recalls. \u201cThey thought I was hallucinating.<\/p>\n

\u201d Throughout the interview in his personal car, Mosoang was meticulous in his responses.<\/p>\n

The father of one said his parents have not been active in party politics and he doesn\u2019t remember seeing them following any political movement. Mosoang says he also loves the motto of his party: \u201cNo to Gender Based Violence (GBV)\u201d.<\/p>\n

He says the NIP wants to use agriculture to lift Basotho out of poverty. \u201cThere is no life without agriculture. Lesotho should migrate from subsistence farming to commercial farming,\u201d Mosoang says.<\/p>\n

Because of the problems that affected the DC candidate in the Sempe constituency, the DC struck a deal with NIP for its members to vote for the NIP candidate.<\/p>\n

That is how Mosoang made it into parliament. Mosoang says youths should be able to stand up and do things for themselves. \u201cThe plight for the jobless youths is just unbearable.<\/p>\n

It is a dreadful one. They need assistance,\u201d says Mosoang, lamenting the increase in crime and the use of drugs by young people. Sempe, like other constituencies in the foothills, is grappling with complexities of infrastructure development like proper roads, electricity and other social amenities.<\/p>\n

Mosoang says gravel roads are usually washed away by heavy rains, while a bridge connecting some roads in his constituency has since collapsed making movement difficult.<\/p>\n

One of his goals in the constituency in his five-year term is to address Gender Based Violence (GBV), including the plight of men. \u201cMen suffer silently in their homes and do not usually disclose that they go through hell in their families,\u201d says Mosoang, who has since separated from his wife.<\/p>\n

Like many Basotho who are raised in the rural areas, Mosoang looked after animals as a young man. He has also tasted the difficult life of herders and had to endure pouring rains and the baking sun while looking after livestock.<\/p>\n

After performing badly in his Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) examinations in 2016, Mosoang was frustrated and did not further his studies due to financial hardships in his family.<\/p>\n

Mosoang says he landed a job as a driver, carrying goods from town to people\u2019s homes using a van. He says all hell broke loose when Covid-19 struck and wreaked havoc globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my job and went back to square one,\u201d says Mosoang, who later landed a job as a 4+1 driver in his home town. He says being a 4+1 driver also shaped him as a young man \u2013 a job he credits for shaping him into a resilient character.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. WHILE Lehlohonolo Mosoang might be a National Independent Party (NIP) MP, his heart is with the Democratic Congress (DC) leader Pakalitha Mosisili \u2013 his political godfather. He says he only joined the NIP instead of the DC because its leadership is more approachable than other political parties. Mosoang, arguably the youngest MP, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,951,245],"class_list":["post-27621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-democratic","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom taxi rank to Parliament - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WHILE Lehlohonolo Mosoang might be a National Independent Party (NIP) MP, his heart is with the Democratic Congress (DC) ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From taxi rank to Parliament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WHILE Lehlohonolo Mosoang might be a National Independent Party (NIP) MP, his heart is with the Democratic Congress (DC) ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T11:05:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T11:48:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681713422.90.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"From taxi rank to Parliament\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-17T11:05:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-17T11:48:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\"},\"wordCount\":950,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681713422.90.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Democratic\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-taxi-rank-to-parliament\",\"name\":\"From taxi rank to Parliament - 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