Lesotho’s civic space remained largely open but institutionally constrained during the period February–June 2026. Civil society organisations (CSOs), trade unions, community groups and independent media continued to operate freely, with no significant new legal restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association or peaceful assembly.
However, persistent governance and institutional weaknesses continued to undermine the enabling environment. Public debate was dominated by concerns over accountability, procurement, service delivery and the implementation of constitutional reforms. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) remained a major governance issue, with recurring concerns about compensation, resettlement, procurement and the treatment of affected communities, even as construction progressed. The ongoing controversies also affect civil society: LHWP’s implementing authority, the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, pits communities against CSOs working towards assisting communities’ rights protection by labelling CSOs as anti-development agents that cause problems between communities and the LHWP. Despite a challenging environment for workers’ rights disputes, labour organisations actively defended workers’ rights through collective bargaining, litigation and public advocacy amid retrenchments in the mining and textile sectors and ongoing compensation claims by former mineworkers.
Oversight institutions, including Parliament, the Ombudsman, the courts and the Auditor-General, continued to expose governance failures and promote accountability, while independent media played a critical role in informing public debate. Nevertheless, disputes involving constitutional institutions, slow implementation of reforms, inconsistent government responsiveness and worsening economic conditions placed increasing pressure on civic participation.
Overall, the review finds that the principal challenges to the enabling environment during the reporting period stemmed not from legal restrictions but from weak institutional implementation, limited responsiveness and economic pressures that constrained meaningful citizen participation and the long-term sustainability of civil society organisations.
