80% of Lesotho’s waste unmanaged

Lesotho is losing control of its waste, with 80 percent of the country’s annual garbage going uncollected and ending up in illegal dumpsites and open burning sites.

This failure is creating immediate public health risks, exposing healthcare workers and waste pickers to contaminated needles and infectious waste.

Poor waste management practices contribute to environment degradation in the country, a new report by the Ombudsman, Advocate Tlotliso Polaki says.

Adv Polaki said in most districts, it has been observed that waste disposal sites have significantly increased the risk of soil, water, and air pollution.

Her report follows a nationwide inspection conducted between August and December 2025, covering all the country’s10 districts.

The probe found that Lesotho generates about 137,510 tonnes of waste every year and only 20 percent enters the formal collection system.

The remaining 110,000 tonnes are unaccounted for, dumped illegally or burned in open sites that lack liners, leachate controls, or monitoring, Adv Polaki noted, adding that the most urgent finding concerns healthcare waste.

The report also revealed that health inspectors and waste pickers face a constant risk of accidental puncture wounds from contaminated needles and sharps discarded indiscriminately at dumpsites. The risk is made worse by a lack of personal protective equipment.

Gloves, boots, and facemasks are often unavailable, leaving personnel exposed to pathogens.

According to the report, the problem starts at the point of generation. Needles and infectious items are frequently not placed in designated, marked incinerator containers. Instead, hazardous waste is mixed with general, non-hazardous waste due to gaps in knowledge among health workers.

“Such occurrences are often rooted at the point of generation, rather than solely at the disposal point. This practice complicates the final disposal process and significantly increases public health risks,” the report said.

It also found that penalties for non-compliance are remarkably low, failing to deter unsafe practices. The Ombudsman concluded that the current situation highlights a breakdown in the chain of custody for healthcare waste.

The investigation also exposes a structural failure in how waste management responsibilities were decentralised. Operational responsibility was transferred to local councils under the 1997 Local Government Act and 2023 Transfer of Functions Regulations. But the transfer was not matched with staff, expertise, or money.

The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police admitted it has no personnel specifically dedicated to solid waste management at ministerial level and has no current intention to establish such positions.

It said councils receive conditional grants for solid waste, but the funding is largely inadequate and mostly used for labour-intensive litter collection, transport, and maintenance of disposal sites.

“The investigation established that decentralisation was not accompanied by the transfer of adequate technical expertise, specialised personnel, sufficient financial resources, or effective monitoring mechanisms,” the report states.

The result is fragmented oversight, overlapping mandates, weak enforcement, and inconsistent service delivery. One environmental health officer often covers an entire district.

The Ombudsman noted that the Ministry initially failed to cooperate with the investigation despite repeated formal requests, delaying the assessment of its role and responsibilities.

The report found that Lesotho has no properly engineered landfill. Most waste goes to open dumpsites that are badly sited and managed, often too close to homes and schools. Children are exposed to toxic emissions from burning waste.

Legislative frameworks exist, including the Environment Act 2008 and Hazardous Health Care Waste Management Regulations 2012, but enforcement is weak. The Ombudsman said the lack of standardised, enforced protocols at local level has led to widespread non-compliance.

The report sets out time-bound recommendations to address the crisis. The Ministry of Local Government must, within 30 days, submit a comprehensive implementation framework detailing measures to strengthen policy and legislative alignment. Within 60 days, it must harmonise the Local Government Act, Environment Act, and Public Health Order to ensure uniform enforcement.

The ministry must conduct a full institutional and human resource capacity assessment and facilitate the transfer of qualified personnel to support councils within 12 months. It must also review whether conditional grants for waste management are adequate and engage the Ministry of Finance to explore sustainable funding models, Adv Polaki said.

Longer-term actions include building a properly engineered landfill at Tšoeneng within three years, planning two more for the north and south, and rolling out nationwide waste separation and recycling. The Ombudsman also recommends considering an independent environmental agency to separate regulation from political pressure.

The ministry must provide quarterly reports to the Ombudsman on progress, legislative reforms, and institutional challenges.

The Ombudsman framed the crisis as a violation of Section 36 of the Lesotho Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to a safe and healthy environment. The report argues that effective waste management is not only an environmental issue but a matter of public health and constitutional rights.

“The implementation of these recommendations is essential not only for improving waste management systems, but also for safeguarding the constitutional rights of communities to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” the report says.

The Ombudsman’s office said the investigation was prompted by community complaints and media reports, particularly from Maseru, about improper waste management. It said the findings build on earlier inspections and show that many recommendations have not been implemented.