Development Without Justice: What Manako Lethakha Reveals About Gender Equality in Lesotho

Today, the 10th of March 2026, marks exactly one year since judgment was delivered in ‘Manako Lethakha & Ors v The Lesotho Highlands Water Commission & Ors was read to the parties. The case arose from a constitutional challenge brought by three rural women affected by Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Projectone of the largest infrastructure and development initiatives in Southern Africa. At its core, the litigation asked a deceptively simple constitutional question: whether a policy that appears neutral on paper can nonetheless produce discriminatory outcomes when applied within deeply unequal…Continue reading with a subscriptionSubscribe for full access to every story.Subscribe - M85/monthAlready a subscriber? Sign in Advertisement ...