MASERU - The former Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation, Dr Mahali Phamotse, says during her time in office she prided herself in having managed to unite sports leadership in Lesotho, a situation that she says did not prevail before.
sports
May 27, 2020
TEBOHO JAFETA
2 min read
‘I unified sports leadership in Lesotho’ – Dr Phamotse
Former sports minister Dr Mahali Phamotse
In an interview with Metro, Phamotse said upon her arrival in office, she set some goals which were aligned with the national goals even though she encountered some challenges in achieving some of them.
“The most important thing in sports is leadership. There was no collaboration between the ministry and the two sports mother bodies – the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) and Lesotho National Olympics Committee (LNOC) but I managed to unite those stakeholders and are now working together,” she said.
She said the parties are now working together with the Local Organizing Committee to make Maseru Region 5 Games a success.
“I strive for good sports administration,” she said, also emphasizing that through the LNOC, she ensured that programmes were developed to train sports administrators and that was a success too.
Phamotse further mentioned that she instilled the love for sports in Basotho which she did through attending various sports activities. She said the fact that the national football team Likuena managed to defeat South Africa’s Bafana Bafana side during her tenure, is worth mentioning as an achievement on her part.
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“I fought so much to ensure that facilities are constructed for the preparations of the Region 5 Games at the time a political war surrounding the construction of facilities arose and placed a serious challenge in implementing the plan,” she said.
Phamotse also mentioned that she came up with a plan of creating new facilities for the Region 5 Games against the initial plan to renovate the Setsoto Stadium for the games, which required a huge budget.
“The plan of building new facilities is of great benefit to Basotho as they would utilise those facilities for a long time in future,” she said.
Phamotse also said as a former minister and now a member of parliament, she would speak in parliament to push for the completion of these sports facilities, adding that she is available to assist Lesotho if need be.
“I would be grateful if the new minister could call me to assist when she feels there is a need,” Phamotse said.
In some of her antics, Phamotse will be remembered for the moral support she always extended to teams, especially national teams in international campaigns to an extend that at some point she would even don full soccer gear with boots to attend some of Likuena’s games and events.
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