The former Minister in the Prime Minister's office Mr. Sephiri Motanyane MP has been elected by an  anonymous  decision for the position of  the Deputy Speaker in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Mr. Motanyane's election comes a week after the Prime Minister; Mr. Pakalitha Mosisili had announced adjustments and realignment of the government ministries and departments in the National Assembly. Mr. Motanyane was recommended by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Motsoahae Thabane. No other names were recommended and Mr. Motanyane was subsequently   elected unopposed.

Mr. Motanyane MP assumes office at the Parliament with loads of experience on his side. His first taste of parliamentary affairs was between 1965 and 1969 when he served under the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) banner at a tender age of 30.After the new democratic dispensation that culminated into the 1993 general elections, Mr. Motanyane was elected as a member of parliament for the Malibamat'so constituency. He was re-elected at the same constituency in 1998 and 2002 general elections respectively.

Mr. Motanyane MP also served in the cabinet structures of the Government of Lesotho. He was sworn in as Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister in 1994. In February 1995, he was sworn in as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. The Cabinet reshuffle of May 1996, made him Minister of Justice and Human Rights and of Law and Constitutional Affairs. After the 1998 general elections, Mr. Motanyane MP was re-appointed Minister at the same Ministry, with only the Department of Rehabilitation being added. He became Minister in the Prime Minister's office after the 1999 July cabinet reshuffle. He maintained the same cabinet portfolio after the May 2002 general elections  until now when he bequeaths the cabinet to join the parliamentary ranks as the Deputy Speaker. 

The Honourable Sephiri Enoch Motanyane was born at Matsoku Ha Kalakatane, in the Mokhotlong District on June 16, 1935.He first attended school at Liseleng Elementary School in the Leribe District in 1951 where he completed his Standard 3 in 1954. He proceeded to Pitseng Intermediate School in Leribe where he passed his Standard 6 in 1957.In 1958 he went to Basutoland Training College in Morija where he obtained the Basutoland Primary Teacher's Certificate (BPTC) in 1960. He studied with a correspondence college for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) which he completed in 1974.He also enrolled for other courses like Homeopathy Management and Industrial Relations when working in the South African mines.

Mr. Motanyane spent most of his early life as a teacher. He taught at Malibamats'o primary school in 1961. He also became the head teacher at Lisoloane and Likhakeng Primary schools between 1973 and 1978. In 1979 worked in the South African mines at Geduld mine where he was promoted to the position of unit supervisor in 1991.

Deputy Speaker Motanyane has  represented Lesotho in the Sixth Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar in New Delhi, India, in 1994 as a member of the Executive Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). His hobbies are football, athletics and singing. He is married with ten  children three  sons and seven  daughters.
 
2nd April 2003