Villagers in Lesotho say water plan has wrecked their homes

Eighteen rural communities in Lesotho have filed a complaint with the African Development Bank (AfDB) over its funding of a multibillion-pound water project whose construction process they claim has ruined fields, polluted water sources and damaged homes.

- Rachel Savage

About 1,600 people living in Mokhotlong district in northeast Lesotho are demanding transparency over planned forced relocations and compensation they say they have not been consulted on.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is scheduled for completion by 2029, a decade later than planned. It will transport water from landlocked Lesotho to a region containing South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, at a cost of about 54bn rand (£2.28bn), according to a parliamentary briefing by South African officials in May.