Moleki, Monyan

Moleleki was born on January 5, 1951 in Mohlaka Tuka, Maseru district. Moleleki attended Nazareth Elementary School from 1957 to 1965 and the King’s High School from 1966 to 1970. He studied at the Thompson Foundation ( UK ), where he received a diploma in journalism, also from July to October 1994, he attended courses in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania , and received a diploma from the Broadcasting Association of the Commonwealth.

In 1982, Moleleki graduated from the magistracy of the journalism faculty of Moscow State University ^[1] . In the same year, he also received a certificate in educational television broadcasting at the University of Witwatersrand .

In 1993, Moleleki was appointed Minister of National Resources. On April 14, 1994, he was abducted by the military along with three other ministers; in this incident, one of the hostages was killed - Deputy Prime Minister Selometsi Baholo ^[2] . In May 1994, the police went on strike, Moleleki resigned and moved to Botswana , saying that he fears for his life ^[3] . In March 1995, he returned to Lesotho and on the 29th was detained by members of the National Security Service ^[4] . In March 1996, at the party congress, he was elected deputy general secretary of the ruling party Congress Basutoland ^[5] . In December 1996, he became Minister of Information and Broadcasting after the death of previous Minister Pakane Hal in November ^[6] , and in June 1998 he was again appointed Minister of Natural Resources ^[7] .

After several years as Minister of Natural Resources in November 2004, Moleleki became Minister of Foreign Affairs ^[8] and held this position until March 2007, when he again became Minister of Natural Resources ^[9] .

On the night of January 29, 2006, an attack was made on his house, Moleleki was shot in the arm ^{[10] [11]} . However, there is evidence that the wound was stabbed. He said the attack was politically motivated.

Moleleki was seen by some as a possible candidate that would eventually replace Prime Minister Pacalita Mosisili . When Mosilili took office again in 2015, this time as the leader of the Democratic Congress, he appointed Moleleki, deputy party leader, as police minister.

Due to reports that Moleleki was discussing the creation of an alliance with opposition leader Tom Tabane , in November 2016 Moisili dismissed Moleleki from the post of police minister and instead appointed him to the post of prime minister’s office ^[12] . Later that month, Moleleki and Tabane announced an agreement regarding the removal of Mosisili and the appointment of Moleleki to the post of prime minister. ^[13] In December 2016, the Moleleks were expelled from the Democratic Congress, and in January 2017 he founded a new party - the Union of Democrats ^[14] . On March 1, 2017, the new party and its allies expressed a vote of no confidence in Mosisili and proposed Moleleki as the new prime minister. ^[15] However, Mosisili refused to resign and instead demanded early elections, despite the opposition’s attempt to discourage it ^[16] .

In the parliamentary elections in June 2017, parties opposing Mosisily, including the Union of Democrats, won the majority of seats, and Tom Tabane became prime minister. Tabane’s cabinet was sworn in on June 23, 2017, including Moleleki as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Parliament ^[17] .

Moleleki earned the nickname Mahaletere for a bridle-like beard and mustache ^[18] .

Moleleki is married, has three children (a son and two daughters), as well as one granddaughter.

Moleleki is fond of classical music, sports and reading.