Eighteen rural communities in Lesotho have lodged a formal complaint with the African Development Bank (AfDB) over its funding of a multibillion-pound water scheme they say has damaged farmland, polluted water sources and caused structural harm to homes.
The villages, home to about 1,600 people in Mokhotlong district in the north-east of the country, are demanding full transparency over planned relocations and compensation arrangements, which they claim have been pursued without proper consultation.
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project, now due for completion in 2029, a decade later than originally planned, will channel water from the mountain kingdom to South Africa’s economic hub, Johannesburg. The scheme is expected to cost 54bn rand (£2.28bn), according to a briefing to South African lawmakers in May.
Last week, the communities, represented by the Lesotho-based Seinoli Legal Centre and the US non-profit Accountability Counsel, submitted their complaint to the AfDB’s independent recourse mechanism (IRM). They have asked the IRM to recommend that the bank’s board suspend the project until their grievances are addressed.
The complaint alleges that rock blasting has caused cracks in house walls, while rockfalls and flooding have blocked access to farmland. Dust and debris from construction are said to have contaminated local water supplies.
“They take our fields [and] they didn’t pay in a good way,” said one community representative, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The AfDB, which provided a loan of 1.3bn rand to the project in 2021, had not responded to questions at the time of publication.
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, which oversees the scheme, said no household would be relocated without “prior and comprehensive consultation” and pledged transparency and timely feedback. It stated that no homes had been deemed uninhabitable due to blasting, but where damage such as cracks had occurred, contractors were obliged to carry out repairs or provide compensation in line with policy.
The authority said rockfall problems had been resolved, claims of blocked field access had not been verified, and that “overall water quality remains within acceptable limits for its intended uses”.
The communities also allege they have faced arbitrary arrest, detention and torture by security forces and police for engaging in peaceful protest.
Mpiti Mopeli, spokesperson for the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, said officers had acted “within the rule of law”, adding: “Protests are regulated, therefore unlawful protest cannot be peaceful. We are guided by principles of human rights as enshrined in the Lesotho Constitution Act of 1993.”
Lesotho’s national security services did not respond to requests for comment.
Other financiers of the project include the Brics bloc’s New Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa, neither of which have commented publicly on the allegations.
