[1] Though she was offered a scholarship to study abroad in 1966, she chose to remain in Lesotho and marry Ntate Lepono.
[1] Lepono entered politics as a member of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy party, at one point leading its women's league.
[1][8][9][10] While serving as gender minister, she oversaw passage of the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006, which removed men's marital power over their wives and gave married women more rights, as well as the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, which recognized marital rape as a crime, among other provisions.
[1][11] By 2011, Lepono was one of seven women ministers in the cabinet, alongside 'Mamphono Khaketla, Mannete Ramali, Maphoka Motoboli, Mphu Keneileo Ramatlapeng, Mpeo Mahase-Moiloa, and Pontso Suzan Matumelo Sekatle.
[13][14] For over a decade, until her retirement in 2012, she was an elected member of Lesotho's National Assembly, representing Mafeteng District's Likhoele constituency.