High Court Certifies Urgent Petition Over KSh2.2 Trillion Dangote Lamu Refinery Project

Justice David Mburu of the Milimani High Court in Nairobi certified as urgent a constitutional petition that challenges the government’s proposed involvement in the KSh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals project in Lamu County.

The judge ordered activist Francis Awino to physically serve the petition, application and court directions on the respondents and interested parties within two days, and gave the respondents seven days from service to file and serve their responses; Awino may file a rejoinder within 14 days of receiving the respondents’ replies, the respondents then have 14 days to file their own written submissions, and Awino may file supplementary submissions on points of law within seven days, with the matter to be mentioned on to confirm compliance and for further orders.

Awino seeks conservatory orders to prevent the government from committing public funds, National Infrastructure Fund resources, public land, public assets, tax incentives, guarantees, indemnities or contingent liabilities to the refinery before key information about the investment is disclosed, and asks the court to restrain any new non-routine commitments involving public resources.

The petitioner requests disclosure of project agreements, Cabinet and Treasury records, fiscal risk assessments, National Infrastructure Fund documents, land records, environmental licences, public participation records, feasibility and valuation reports, investment and shareholder documents, and the legal authority and approvals underpinning state participation, as well as a complete, indexed inventory of all physical and electronic records, including registration details, directors and beneficial owners of the Kenyan special purpose vehicle.

Sixteen respondents are named, among them the Attorney General, the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, the National Environment Management Authority, the National Land Commission, Lamu County Government, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Maritime Authority, the National Infrastructure Fund and the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals SEZ; the Capital Markets Authority and the Dangote SEZ are listed as interested parties.

The petition follows a Senate debate on September 30, 2026 in which Senator Edwin Sifuna asked whether Parliament had been given access to the refinery agreement and whether legislators were aware of Kenya’s commitments, and it references President William Ruto’s remarks at the September 30 groundbreaking ceremony announcing that the government would deploy state assets, including land, and the National Infrastructure Fund to invest in the refinery.

Awino says he served access-to-information requests on several public entities on September 27 but had not received responses before filing the petition, and he cites a September 21, 2026 statement by the Capital Markets Authority that the initial public offering of the refinery was being regulated in Nigeria and had not been submitted to the Kenyan regulator.

The petition also acknowledges separate proceedings before the Environment and Land Court in Malindi concerning land LR No.13061, Hindi/Manda Magogoni, where 133 residents have challenged land earmarked for the project, and notes a Consumers Federation of Kenya petition to the Public Private Partnerships Petition Committee seeking details of a reported KSh65 billion government stake, a KSh21.5 billion seed allocation and roughly 7,000 acres linked to the refinery.

The case is scheduled to return to the High Court on November 12, 2026 for a compliance hearing and further directions, and the court has not yet made any determination on the allegations raised by Awino.