'Mamoshebi Kabi (7 March 1936 – 9 May 1999) was a Mosotho politician. She was one of the first group of women elected to the National Assembly of Lesotho in 1993.
'Mamoshebi Kabi | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Gender, Youth and Environment | |
| In office 1997–1999 | |
| Minister of Transport, Post and Telecommunications | |
| In office 1996–1997 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 1993–1999 | |
| Constituency | Motimposo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 March 1936 Khubetsoana, Basutoland |
| Died | 9 May 1999 (aged 63) |
Biography
editKabi was born in Khubetsoana in 1936, the eighth child of Eliza Phakisi and reverend Elijah Phakisi.[1][2] After attending the National University of Lesotho, she studied at Tennessee State University in the United States and St. Francis Xavier University in Canada.[1] In 1958 she married Motete Kabi, with whom she had two daughters and two sons.[2] Two years later she became a member of the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP).[1] During the state of the emergency of the 1970s, Kabi was detained by police on fourteen occasions, and was tortured eleven times.[2] She worked at the Institute of Extra Mural Studies at the National University of Lesotho and served as secretary general of the Women's League.[1]
Kabi was a BCP candidate in the 1993 general elections, and was one of three women elected, becoming the first female members of the National Assembly.[3] She was an Organisation of African Unity observer at the 1994 South African general elections.[1] In 1996 she was appointed Minister of Transport, Post and Telecommunications.[1] The following year she became the first Minister of Women's affairs, with the post renamed the Minister of Gender, Youth and Environment the following year.[4] She died on 9 May 1999 following a long illness.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Elizabeth Sleeman (2001) The International Who's Who of Women 2002 p283
- ^ a b c Mamoshebi Was Killed By Guilt - Dr. Phooko Mopheme, 25 May 1999
- ^ Mart Martin (2000) The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics, p229
- ^ Lesotho Political Regimes and the Feminist Puzzle: Policy and Legal Legacies
- ^ Minister Kabi has passed away Mopheme, 14 May 1999