The ceremony was graced by the presence of Heads of Government of Foreign States, their Excellences Heads of Diplomatic Missions and International organizations.

The New Prime Minister Honourable Ntsokoane Matekane while passing his remarks at the inauguration thanked the Almighty God saying “For I know His Grace is sufficient for me; and that His Power and blessings will multiply in my weakness. I shall not fear, for He will always hold my hand and give me all the guidance I need,”. Honourable Matekane further said he is fully aware of the profound nature and seriousness of this responsibility and he will not take it lightly.

He said he accepts the baton as the tenth Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho with a deep sense of gratitude and humility and for him, this address represents a social contract in which he promises to make Lesotho great again. While addressing the issue of Lesotho’s economy, Honourable Matekane said the Government’s income depends quite heavily on revenues from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) which are declining.

He said another challenge the country has had over the years is that, Lesotho has failed to tap and realize the potential economic returns on existing positive investment environment. “The government of Lesotho maintains a strong commitment to private investment and is generally open to foreign direct investment,” he said. He pleaded with the foreign investors not to give up on Lesotho, but to come, explore and invest in this beautiful country. He noted that another issue that the new government has to fight is corruption and the rampant embezzlement of public funds.

The outgoing Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro handed over the report and the National Symbols of power (The National Flag and the Constitution) to the new Prime Minister. In his remarks, the ooutgoingPrime Minister Majoro congratulated the incoming Prime Minister Ntsokoane Sam Matekane on his new journey of leadership he is about to embark on. He thanked His Majesty King Letsie III and Basotho for granting him an opportunity to lead his Government and acknowledged that there were many challenges in his tenure, and may have made mistakes which angered Basotho, therefore he apologizes.

Lesotho’s neighboring country South Africa President and Southern African Development Community (SADC) Facilitator Cyril Ramaphosa speaking at the ceremony said, South Africa will always show support to Lesotho because their friendship will remain for all eternity. “Over the past decade, Basotho have had to navigate a very difficult path towards the restoration of peace, security and stability in their Kingdom,” said Ramaphosa. He echoed Lesotho-South Africa’s historic political, economic and social relations, which the belief is to strengthen them even further.