Kenya court order adds land hurdle to $16bn Dangote refinery launch

A Kenyan court has ordered parties to maintain the status quo on disputed land earmarked for Aliko Dangote’s $15bn-$16bn Lamu refinery until mid-October, on the eve of the project’s groundbreaking.

The Malindi Environment and Land Court told the parties to maintain the “status quo prevailing” on the plot until a hearing on October 14, Reuters reported on September 29. The order, issued by Justice Jane Onyango, is dated September 25 but was made public on September 28.

The suit was brought by Salim Tima Swale and 132 other residents of Chandavai in Lamu County, who say the land is ancestral and that their families have farmed it and built homes, mosques and shrines there for generations, The Star reported. They say state officials and agents of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor authority destroyed their crops in August 2024 without notice or compensation and want to be paid before the state takes possession. Dangote Industries is among the respondents.

Dangote Group, the Nigerian conglomerate behind the project, said the ceremony could still take place.

“The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. However, activities at the site may be affected by the ruling as both parties are required not to carry activities until the case is heard on 14th October,” the company said in a statement.

The order does not expressly halt the September 30 groundbreaking, but it could constrain activity on the disputed site pending the October 14 hearing.

The order was signed on the same day that President William Ruto, visiting Dangote’s refinery near Lagos, said the government had secured the land required for the project.

See IntelliNews: Kenya fast-tracks Dangote’s $16bn Lamu refinery before September 30 groundbreaking

The dispute follows an earlier challenge to the consultation process in July, while residents involved in the latest case say they support investment but want land rights, compensation and resettlement resolved before construction proceeds. Residents protested in Lamu on September 29, demanding compensation and a resettlement plan, while Kenyans.co.ke reported that police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

The government says the event will go ahead. Speaking in Kilifi on September 29, Ruto said the refinery would be launched the next day and accused opponents of trying to derail the project.

“There are people who think they can sabotage the investment in this refinery,” he said, according to state broadcaster KBC.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi also said the launch would proceed, while The Star reported that the court had declined to certify the application as urgent and had not stopped the groundbreaking itself.

The planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery is intended to replicate in East Africa the scale and regional fuel-supply role of Dangote’s refinery near Lagos. Kenya has no current commercial crude production, while potential regional supplies from Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya remain constrained by infrastructure, development and geopolitical factors, leaving imported seaborne crude as the likely initial feedstock unless regional supply arrangements improve.

Dangote has hired Engineers India (NSE:ENGINERSIN) for more than $450mn of engineering and project-management work and is targeting completion around 2030.

See IntelliNews: Kenya prepares September 30 groundbreaking for $15bn-$16bn Lamu refinery

It has also proposed allowing East African governments to take a combined stake of up to 30%, but the project has not reached financial close and crude-supply arrangements remain unresolved.

The court order does not prevent the ceremonial launch, but it complicates the shift from announcement to physical execution. Land access, compensation, financing and crude supply all remain unresolved before full construction can proceed.