Ellen 'Maposholi Molapo was a Mosotho politician. The first woman to play a prominent role in politics in Lesotho, she became its first female member of Parliament when she was appointed to the Senate in 1965.
In 1960 she left the BCP after a falling out with party leader Ntsu Mokhehle.[3] She and several other PAC leaders were convicted by South African courts in 1961 for running an illegal organisation, with Molapo receiving a twelve-month sentence.[6] The following year she was deported by the South African authorities.[7] She subsequently became a member of the Marematlou Freedom Party headed by her brother Seth Matotoko, who had lived with her while she was in South Africa.[8] She frequently upstaged Matotoko at campaign rallies with her rhetoric and singing,[8] and was regarded as one of the party's most effective campaigners.[4] In April 1965 she was appointed to the Senate, becoming the country's first female member of parliament.[9]
References
^Gail M. Gerhart (1977) From Protest to Challenge a Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1964: Challenge and Violence 1953-1964, p372