The Malindi Environment and Land Court has ordered parties to maintain the status quo on a disputed parcel of land set to host Aliko Dangote’s multi-billion oil refinery in Lamu ahead of the project’s scheduled groundbreaking on Wednesday.
Justice Jane Onyango of the Environment and Land Court directed that the status quo of Land Reference No. 13061 in Hindi/Manda Magogoni area should prevail until an inter partes hearing scheduled for October 14, 2026.
The order, which was issued on September 25, sought to prevent any clearing, excavation, fencing, demolition or other interference with the possession of the land in dispute.
The applicants had asked for orders preventing the planned groundbreaking and development of the refinery. The application, however, was not granted.
The case was filed by 133 residents of Chandavai led by Salim Tima Swale and others who claim that their families have been in possession of the land for decades, and they have been using the land for farming and livestock keeping and have built homes, mosques, shrines and family graves. They further argued that they have rights over the land despite not having formal title deeds.
Justice Onyango declined to certify the application for hearing as urgent to the extent that the project activities would be halted but ordered that the respondents be served with a copy of the petition and file their responses within 14 days.
Consequently, the judge did not halt the groundbreaking set for Wednesday, September 30, which President William Ruto and billionaire Aliko Dangote are expected to officiate.
The Dangote Group noted that the court’s ruling will not stop the ceremony but could impact some project activities.
“The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. However, in the meantime, the 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.
Speaking in an engagement session with Kenyan and East African institutional investors in Nairobi on Tuesday, Aliko Dangote downplayed the court case, calling it normal in Africa and vowing to develop the project for Africa’s future.
“One court has given an order that we don’t do any construction on the land, I said no, that’s normal for us in Africa, we don’t care, in fact this is even small,” Dangote said.
The proposed Dangote East Africa Refinery, with an estimated cost of about $17 billion and designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is part of the LAPSSET corridor and is expected to source crude from Kenya and other sources.
The case will resume on October 14 when the judge is expected to give more directions on the disputed land between the parties.
– By John Murunga
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