Fresh legal hurdle for Dangote Lamu Refinery as court issues orders on disputed land

The proposed Sh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Refinery in Lamu has been hit by a fresh legal hurdle after the Environment and Land Court ordered parties to maintain the status quo on a disputed parcel of land linked to the project.

The order was issued by Malindi Environment and Land Court Judge Jane Onyango on Friday, September 25, in a case filed by Salim Tima Swale and 132 other residents over land identified as LR No. 13061 in the Hindi/Manda Magogoni area of Lamu County.

This comes before the planned September 30 groundbreaking ceremony, which President William Ruto is expected to preside over alongside Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote.

However, the court did not certify the application as urgent and did not expressly stop the September 30 groundbreaking.

Instead, Justice Onyango directed that the respondents be served and given 14 days to respond, while ordering that the status quo prevailing on LR No. 13061 be maintained until the matter is heard on October 14, 2026.

The court order carries a penal notice warning that disobedience or non-observance could attract penal consequences.

The petitioners say they have occupied, cultivated and developed portions of the disputed land for generations and claim interests arising from long-standing occupation, customary or community tenure, possession and beneficial use.

According to the petition, some of the families say their forefathers traditionally owned and used the land for farming and settlement.

The residents further claim that homes, mosques, shrines and burial sites are located on the land and that the property was passed down through generations despite the absence of formal title deeds.

They argue that the planned expansion projects in the area, including the Dangote refinery, could result in forced eviction, destruction of property and displacement without a resettlement plan.

The petitioners have therefore challenged the planned development and sought court protection over their claimed interests in the land.

The case names several government institutions and agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General, National Land Commission, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority and Lamu County Government, alongside Dangote Industries and companies identified as its agents and contractors.

The residents maintain that they are not opposed to development but want their land interests addressed before the project proceeds.

The interim directions are narrower than an outright injunction against the refinery.

Justice Onyango ruled that:

The application was not certified as urgent.

The respondents must be served with the application.

The respondents have 14 days to file their responses.

The matter will be heard inter partes on October 14, 2026.

The status quo on LR No. 13061 must be maintained until that date.

The proposed Dangote East Africa Refinery is one of the largest industrial projects currently planned for Kenya.

The facility is projected to cost between $15 billion and $17 billion, with recent estimates putting the investment at about Sh2.2 trillion.

It is designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, potentially making it the largest refinery in East Africa if completed at the proposed capacity.

The refinery is planned for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor, with the project expected to process crude from Kenya's Lokichar oilfields in Turkana as well as crude from other parts of East Africa and beyond.

Beyond refining petroleum, the project is being positioned as a wider industrial complex involving petrochemicals, fertiliser, chemicals, packaging and logistics.

President Ruto has said the refinery could create about 60,000 jobs, while the government has also linked it to wider industrialisation and energy-security ambitions.

On September 26, the Port of Lamu received the MV Da Yang, carrying about 2,930 metric tonnes of heavy construction machinery intended for the refinery project.

The arrival was described by officials as a major step towards construction of the facility.

On September 21, President Ruto met Dangote and Africa Finance Corporation President and CEO Samaila Zubairu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The talks focused on financing and final preparations for the Lamu refinery. Ruto said Kenya was ready to break ground on the project.

Four days later, on September 25, Ruto travelled to Lagos, where he toured Dangote's existing 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lekki.

Ruto described the Nigerian facility as a model of what African governments, investors and financial institutions could achieve together and said the proposed Kenyan refinery would be larger.

He also assured the Dangote family that the Kenyan government was fully behind the Lamu project, saying the necessary land had been secured and that the government was working to remove administrative and bureaucratic obstacles.