MASERU —Former premier Pakalitha Mosisili was on Thursday awarded the Drivers of Change Government Award in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The award was given by the Southern Africa Trust, a civil society organisation that promotes dialogue to fight poverty.
The awards were given in four categories: civil society, business, government and the individual.
In its citation, the Trust said despite his Democratic Congress (DC) winning more parliamentary seats than others, Mosisili “accepted the opposition party coalition taking over the government of Lesotho because he believed that peace and stability in the country is more important than him being the prime minister”.
“As prime minister, he worked tirelessly to stabilise Lesotho and build a culture of political inclusion,” said the Trust.
Speaking in an interview at the DC headquarters in Maseru on Friday, Mosisili dedicated the award to Basotho and the “congress movement” for making him what he is today.
He said the “congress movement” had made him pursue quality education, good governance and improving the quality of lives of Basotho among others.
The DC leader said he believes the award was influenced by the smooth and peaceful transition of power after the May 26 polls.
“I think they were impressed by the peaceful transition of power following the May elections, where although DC had won the polls, other parties came together to form a coalition government,” he said.
Mosisili said he felt humbled by the award which did not carry any monetary reward.
He said the award was in recognition of the good work he did during his tenure as the Prime Minister.
The DC leader said among the good things he achieved was the changing of the electoral model which enabled other political parties to have a stake in the National Assembly and enacting electoral law that forced parties to include women in their party lists.
Mosisili was welcomed at Moshoeshoe I Airport by the party’s deputy leader, Monyane Moleleki, secretary general Ralechate ‘Mokose and some of the party’s National Executive Committee members and MPs.
— Staff Reporter/Lena
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