Honourable Refiloe Moses Masemene

Personal
• Date of Birth: May 5, 1955
• Place of Birth: Moyeni, Quthing
• Marital Status: Married

Current Positions
• Minister of Labour and Employment
• Member of Parliament
• Chairperson of the Education and Human Rights Committee of the African Union of the Blind (AFUB) and of World Blind Union committee on human rights, constitutional and United Nations issues

Academic Qualifications
• Primary education-Masitise Primary School (1970)
• Junior Certificate (JC)- St.Thomas Secondary School and Thabeng High School for Cambridge Overseas Schools Certificate in 1975
• BA Law and LL.B-National University of Lesotho (NUL) (1976-1983)

Career/Positions/Membership/Other activities
• Appointed to the Senate in October 1993
• Re-appointed as Senator and became Leader of the House in 1999
• Minister of Justice, Human Rights, Rehabilitation, and Law and Constitutional Affairs (2001-February 2007)
• Admitted to the bar as an advocate of the High Court of Lesotho in November 1983
• Legal Advisor of the Department of Lands Survey and Physical Planning from May 1983
• Co-founder and Vice-President of the Lesotho National League for Visually Impaired Persons (LNLVIP) (1986-1989)
• Served three terms as President of the League (1989-1995) and, since then, has served as honorary secretary general
• Co-founder and first President of the Lesotho National Federation of the Disabled (LNFOD) and on stepping down, was elected honorary secretary general for the period 2000 to 2004.
• Representative of LNFOD on the executive of the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN)-(1993-1995) as well as being a member of the LCN’s human rights and democracy commission
• Elected honorary legal adviser of the Southern African Organisation of the Disabled (SAFOD)-(1989) and was able to work as chair working group on inclusion of equality and disability rights clauses in various national constitutions of Southern African countries including Lesotho, South Africa, Malawi and Namibia
• Participated at the United Nations meeting of experts reviewing the decade of disabled persons, held in Vancouver, Canada, under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council
• Board officer of the African Union of the Blind, representing the Southern African region, becoming, during this period, chair of the committees on human rights and of fundraising (1996-1999)

Health
Became night blind at the age of 11 and suffered a gradual loss of vision until total loss occurred around 1984-1985 as a result of a genetic condition, retinitis pigmentation