High Court Orders Lamu Villagers to Serve Dangote in Refinery Dispute

The High Court in Malindi ordered 133 residents of the Mvinjeni/Magogoni villages in Lamu to serve billionaire Aliko Dangote and all state agencies named in their petition within a set period, after the petitioners failed to do so.

Justice Jane Anyango directed that the respondents be served, while Justice Onyango refused to grant any interim status-quo order and told the petitioners they must serve Dangote and the agencies within 14 days before the hearing, granting them leave to amend the petition within seven days.

The villagers are contesting the KSh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Refinery, a project that forms part of the LAPSSET corridor, is expected to cover between 7,000 and 10,000 acres, process 700,000 barrels of crude daily and include a 1,000-megawatt power plant, with completion targeted for 2030.

Their lawyer, George Wakahiu, said he could not serve Dangote because the billionaire has no known address in Kenya and he was unable to obtain a CR12 document listing the address of Dangote’s companies; he added that soil-testing drilling had already begun and warned that the villagers would suffer if the status quo were not maintained.

Attorney General Waswa stated that neither the Attorney General’s office nor Southern Engineering Company Limited (SECO) had been served; National Lands Commission lawyer Irene Khaoya said Wakahiu needed leave to serve a foreign respondent; SECO lawyer Gitonga argued that service is mandatory and that an email address for the companies exists.

Khaoya and Waswa opposed the issuance of interim orders, arguing that the earlier orders were based on a parcel of land in Watamu rather than Lamu and objected to an oral application to change the parcel number and village name.

Justice Onyango ordered that proper service of Dangote be completed before any hearing on the applications can proceed and noted that the proposed amendment to the suit’s property details is a serious matter opposed by the respondents.

Several petitions filed in Malindi and Nairobi seek to halt the refinery and to obtain disclosure of approval documents; the suits name the Dangote East Africa Refinery, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, the National Lands Commission, Southern Engineering, the Kenya Maritime Authority, the National Infrastructure Fund, the Capital Markets Authority, the National Environment Management Authority, the Treasury, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Attorney General, while a Nairobi petition by Francis Onyango requests public release of transaction papers.

On September 25, the Malindi Environment and Land Court issued an interim order to maintain the status quo, but on October 14 Justice Onyango declined to extend that order, allowing construction activities to continue.

Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome said the majority of the 7,000-acre site is public land owned by the government and that the presence of residents does not convert it to private property; the matter is scheduled for discussion on November 24.

Construction of the KSh2.2 trillion refinery was formally launched on September 30, with the facility expected to be finished within 40 months and commissioned by 2030.