NEWLY elected Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) President, Tlali Rampoona says it is not going to be easy to fill the shoes of his predecessor, 'Matlohang Moiloa-Ramoqopo who he describes as a great leader and visionary.

This, after his landslide victory over his challenger, Khiba Mohoanyane at the XXI LNOC Annual Elective Conference that was held in Maseru on Sunday.
Rampooana who served the committee for the past 16 years as Vice President garnered a total of 37 votes against Mohoanyane's 13.

He said working under Moiloa-Ramoqopo was a blessing as he learned a lot from her, describing her as a hard worker who always put the interests of Basotho over hers.

''She is dedicated to serving her country and always goes all out to achieve her set goals,” he said.

He promised to always rely on her counsel in future even though he would do things a bit differently from her.

The new LNOC President said the road now leads to Paris in France at the next Olympic Games in 2024.
''We used to have an eight-year strategic plan which was, however disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak. But we need to immediately meet and map the way forward, where we will have to double our efforts in order to realise our goals,'' he said.

The new committee he said consists of dedicated people who will push all the committee’s mandates and projects forward.

“The elections were conducted in an organised manner which shows that Basotho now understand that elections are only a platform where people express different views on who to lead them,” he said

The other members of the new committee include Letsatsi Ntsibolane as Vice President Administration after beating Advocate Bothobile Shebe by 32 votes to 18, Vice President Finance is Dr Lebohang Khomari who defeated her challengers Moholo Lekomoa and Lehlohonolo Snyman after getting 27 votes to their 12 and 11 votes, respectively.