21 Facts About Sam Matekane

Ntsokoane Samuel Matekane was born on 15 March 1958 and is a Mosotho businessman and politician who is the current Prime Minister of Lesotho.

Sam Matekane founded his company, Matekane Group of Companies in 1986.

In March 2022, Sam Matekane held a press conference at his hotel, and formed the Revolution for Prosperity party.

Sam Matekane self-funded a political campaign with a heavy social media presence and won the 2022 Lesotho General Election.

Sam Matekane funded the construction of a football stadium, a school, and a convention center and a cost-sharing owner-farmer scheme farm in his village of Mantsonyane.

Sam Matekane has made donations amounting to M8 million in Police Uniforms, and M2 million in Equipment for the Lesotho Defense Force.

Sam Matekane was born in Mantsonyane, then called British Basutoland, now Lesotho.

Sam Matekane attended Bocheletsane Primary School in Basutoland before enrolling at Mabathoana High School in Maseru, where he completed a junior certificate after three years of secondary education.

Sam Matekane is the founder and CEO of the Sam Matekane Group of Companies, which was established in 1986 as a construction equipment sales business.

In March 2022, several months before the 2022 Lesotho general election, Sam Matekane founded a party called Revolution for Prosperity.

Sam Matekane said he would "Make Lesotho Great Again" by any means necessary.

Sam Matekane's perceived outsider status helped his party win the election.

Sam Matekane planned to reverse the economic recession via austerity and job creation from international investors.

In June 2023, Sam Matekane launched the Entrepreneurship Hub and Seed Financing Facility, an initiative aiming to build 15 Entrepreneurship Support Organizations and incubate 500 start-ups, as well as engage with the diaspora.

Sam Matekane has worked to reduce the prevalence of illegal cross-border mining, including by implementing an agreement signed by his predecessor in November 2021.

In September 2023, Sam Matekane spoke before the United Nations in favor of more support to least developed countries and stated his hope to export electricity and water to South Africa.

Reportedly, Sam Matekane had to finance his own inauguration due to a lack of public funds.

Sam Matekane's cabinet included only 15 people, versus 36 in the previous cabinet.

All political parties have ostensibly pledged to support the bill, however Sam Matekane's government sought to divide it into three parts in early 2023, which was not supported by the opposition, who believed the governing parties were seeking to stack the civil service with its own supporters first.

On 30 October 2023, Sam Matekane faced a vote of no confidence.

Sam Matekane's government sought to dispute the constitutional amendment that allowed the vote to go ahead.