Honourable Pontšo ’Matumelo Sekatle


Personal
• Date of Birth: May 26, 1957
• Marital Status: She is married and has three children, a son and two daughters

Current Positions
• Minister of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs
• Deputy President of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy Women’s League (LCDWL)
• Member of Parliament for Qacha’s Nek Constituency No. 69 representing the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)

Academic Qualifications
• Primary education- Quthing Primary School (1970)
• Junior Certificate (JC)- Mopeli Secondary School (1971-1973)
• Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (C.O.S.C)- Masitise High School (1976-1977)
• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration and Political Science-National University of Lesotho (1978-1982)
• Master of Public Administration (MPA)-University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (1984)
• She was conferred a PhD at the University of Natal (1996).

Career/Positions/Membership/Other activities
• Appointed as Senator (2001)
• Appointed Minister of Health and Social Welfare
• Elected to the National Assembly, representing Qacha’s Nek Constituency (2002) and re-elected to the National Assembly for the same constituency (2007)
• Appointed Minister of Local Government since 2002 to date, and her portfolio includes Lands, Housing, Chieftainship, Urban and Rural Development

• Served at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) as Graduate Research Assistant from 1982 to 1984
• Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies (1984-2001)- in the following areas; African Politics, Development Administration, Public Enterprises, Local Government, Rural Development and Comparative Politics
• Faculty Tutor from 1984 to 1991,
• External Examiner at the Institute of Extra Mural Studies (IEMS) of NUL from 1988 to 1991
• External Examiner at the Lesotho Institute of Public Administration and Management (LIPAM) from 1996 to June 2001
• External Examiner for Masters Degree, University of Durban – Westville and at University of Namibia in 2000
• Head of Department – Department of Political and Administrative Studies and member of University Senate, National University of Lesotho, from 1998 to 2001
• Director in the Board of the following organizations: UNESCO Lesotho, Center of Specialization in Public Administration and Management (CESPAM), Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC)
• Deputy President of the African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM)-
• (1998-2001)
• Vice - Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) (2003-2005)
• Member of CLGF
• Former member of Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) (1988-2001)
• Former member of African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) (1986), and was Deputy President (1998 to 2002)
• First Patron of AAPAM

Research/Publications
• She produced a number of publications including researched papers, journal articles and dissertations in the following areas: Local Government, Comparative Politics. She also has several unpublished papers
• She has also attended and participated in a number of conferences where she presented papers on Public Administration and Political Science

Hobbies
• She likes reading, research, gardening and listening to music