{"id":27878,"date":"2023-04-23T10:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T10:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono"},"modified":"2023-04-23T11:19:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T11:19:17","slug":"lefa-honours-lepono","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono","title":{"rendered":"LEFA honours Lepono"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has paid homage to former Minister of Sport, \u2018Mathabiso Lepono, for her work in sports. The honorary celebration was held at Lepono\u2019s home in Ha Ramokoatsi, Mafeteng, on Monday.<\/p>\n

Lepono, who is now 80 years old, was a long-time minister of gender, youth, and sports under former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili led government. After an illustrious career, she retired in 2012 and LEFA president Advocate Salemane Phafane said after her departure the association has not felt the warmth it felt under her leadership.<\/p>\n

Lepono\u2019s name is certainly synonymous with the country\u2019s politics and sport. The Thibella native first joined cabinet in 1999 when she was appointed as the minister of environment, gender, and youth affairs and, in 2002, she shifted to the ministry of gender, youth, and sports.<\/p>\n

While serving as gender minister, Lepono oversaw the passage of the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006 which removed men\u2019s marital power over their wives and gave married women more rights. She also headed the implementation of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act which, among other provisions, recognised marital rape as a crime.<\/p>\n

By 2011, Lepono was one of seven women ministers in the cabinet, alongside \u2018Mamphono Khaketla, Mannete Ramali, Maphoka Motoboli, Mphu Keneiloe Ramatlapeng, Mpeo Mahase-Moiloa, and Pontso Suzan Matumelo Sekatle.<\/p>\n

As he honoured Lepono, Phafane said LEFA felt it would be irresponsible to overlook what the former minister has done for sports in Lesotho, especially football.<\/p>\n

It was under her leadership that the national stadium, Setsoto, and the Leshoboro Stadium in Mafeteng were revamped. The Rapokolana High Altitude Sports Training Centre located on the outskirts of Maseru was also Lepono\u2019s brainchild.<\/p>\n

The M55 million sports facility was built by the government in 2005 to develop local athletes. The facility comprises a state-of the-art gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, football pitch, running-track as well as netball and tennis courts, among its amenities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not had the warmth we had under your leadership, we have not felt the love we had during your time,\u201d Phafane said to Lepono.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has not been one (minister) to match or even come close to what Mme \u2018Malepono did as minister.<\/p>\n

The (Setsoto) stadium we have now was built (by her), it was her vision for us as a country to have a stadium. She built Leshoboro as well. Tell me which stadium was built by another minister besides the two?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Phafane said unfortunately the Rapokolana centre, along with several other of Lepono\u2019s ideas, has now been turned into a white elephant. Phafane said LEFA will not honour any other minister until they have made their mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cRapokolana was her idea and it started during her time, there is no minister that can stand here and be proud about Rapokolana except her.<\/p>\n

It was her wish for football to get the benefit of training there, (but) I am not sure whether that will happen. We know nothing and there are no signs that we will benefit anything there,\u201d Phafane said.<\/p>\n

The LEFA president said football no longer has a home in Lesotho because the national team, Likuena, now play their games in Johannesburg, South Africa, because Setsoto is banned by Africa\u2019s football governing body, CAF, for being below the required international standards.<\/p>\n

The time to renovate the stadium came and passed. Even the stadium\u2019s artificial turf is no longer up to standard because the sports ministry refused to let LEFA maintain it, Phafane said.<\/p>\n

LEFA no longer receives a subvention from the ministry and Phafane said the last time they received it was back in 2012 which was the same time Lepono retired.<\/p>\n

Phafane said the money from parliament ends up at the sports ministry and the allowances that players get come from the association itself. The government has all but abandoned its responsibility to the national teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also took responsibility for the national teams, the last time we received a subvention was in 2012,\u201d Phafane said in reference to Lepono.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dare the LSRC (Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission) president to say we are not telling the truth; we don\u2019t get (a subvention).<\/p>\n

After you left, they started singing a new song that there is no money,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ministry and their workers point fingers when the players don\u2019t do well, shame on them.<\/p>\n

If I was them, I would hide my finger knowing I did nothing for the team,\u201d he said. The association gifted Lepono with a trophy, three footballs and a brand new Likuena kit.<\/p>\n

Accepting the presents, the former minister said it hurts to see Setsoto in the state it is in now, as well as many other projects that she started. Lepono said she did not think anyone would notice the things she did while she was in office.<\/p>\n

She thanked LEFA and proclaimed her love for sport. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to say, thank you so much,\u201d Lepono said. \u201cWhen we were doing these things, we didn\u2019t realise that there were people seeing them.<\/p>\n

I love football. I love all sports because there is nothing that brings people together like football. Football comes first, people love it, they come together,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big thing you have done for me; I thank you,\u201d Lepono said. Lepono said when she built Setsoto, her ministry had no money but they were willing to make it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not here to criticise anyone but we built Setsoto with tears,\u201d Lepono said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNtate Mosisili was not playing with me, I fought tooth and nail and I prayed that even though there was no money, God would give me money. There was no money given to build the grounds, but I prayed we would build them, it was unfortunate that I left,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lepono said the Rapokolana centre has a football ground which was meant to benefit football but the centre, like Setsoto, has become the white elephant.<\/p>\n

The centre was also built to take advantage of the country\u2019s high altitude but it is of no use to Lesotho\u2019s athletes at present time. \u201cThis country is not going anywhere if you build a ground it turns into a white elephant,\u201d Lepono said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a new person arrives, they draw up their own priorities, they don\u2019t say: let\u2019s finish the ongoing projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has paid homage to former Minister of Sport, \u2018Mathabiso Lepono, for her work in sports. The honorary celebration was held at Lepono\u2019s home in Ha Ramokoatsi, Mafeteng, on Monday. Lepono, who is now 80 years old, was a long-time minister of gender, youth, and sports under former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,246,125,245],"class_list":["post-27878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-football","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nLEFA honours Lepono - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has paid homage to former Minister of Sport, \u2018Mathabiso Lepono, for her work in ...\" \/>\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\/lefa-honours-lepono\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEFA honours Lepono\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has paid homage to former Minister of Sport, \u2018Mathabiso Lepono, for her work in ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono\" \/>\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=\"2023-04-23T10:04:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-23T11:19:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1682228162.84.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\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\/lefa-honours-lepono#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"LEFA honours Lepono\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-23T10:04:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-23T11:19:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono\"},\"wordCount\":1071,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1682228162.84.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"football\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lefa-honours-lepono\",\"name\":\"LEFA honours Lepono - 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