The outcome of an appeal against the revocation of a license to implement a coal-fired power plant in Lamu County will be known on May 29, 2025, when the Environment and Land Court in Malindi delivers its judgment.
On Monday, Justice Mwangi Njoroge received oral highlights of written submissions from Save Lamu, a Community-Based Organization opposed to the establishment of the plant, before setting the judgment date.
The appellant, Amu Power Company Limited, presented written submissions but was not in court to highlight them. The National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), a party to the lawsuit, did not present any submissions, either written or oral.
Amu Power Company went to the Environment and Land Court in 2019 to appeal the decision of the National Environmental Tribunal (NET) that revoked an environmental impact assessment (EIA) license, which would have paved the way for the first coal-fired power plant in the country.
This came after residents, through Save Lamu, took Amu Power Company Limited and NEMA to court in 2016, following NEMA’s issuance of an EIA license to the company. The CBO won the case in 2019 when the NET ruled that no proper public participation had occurred before the license was issued and that the EIA process was incomplete.
Save Lamu also filed a cross-appeal, contesting certain aspects of the NET ruling, including the conclusion that the analysis of alternative technologies was sufficient, a point the tribunal had not considered.
Save Lamu argues that the proposed 1050 MW Lamu coal plant threatens the constitutional rights of local communities, including their rights to a clean and healthy environment, access to information, and the protection of their cultural heritage, livelihoods, and health.
While highlighting Save Lamu’s submissions, lawyer Mark Odaga made a passionate appeal to the court to find that the NET was correct in revoking the EIA license and to consider the issues that residents felt were not properly addressed by the tribunal.
Among the issues Mr. Odaga highlighted were alleged insufficient public participation in the EIA process, the scientific adequacy of the EIA report, and the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of the coal plant.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, Mr. Odaga said the respondents had given the court their reasons for not setting aside the findings of the tribunal and had raised points the tribunal had not considered, despite the communities marshaling sufficient evidence.
“We have invited the court to engage with that evidence and hopefully give a positive determination to protect the environment, health, culture, and heritage of Lamu,” he said.
“The residents of Lamu were keen to have their day in court, which is why we requested to highlight our submissions. The appellants, on this occasion, chose to rely on written submissions, which is well within their rights. NEMA, also a party, did not file any submissions,” he added.
Ms. Khadija Shekue, a resident of Lamu and the coordinator of Save Lamu, said the residents had turned up in large numbers for the hearing to demonstrate their opposition to the establishment of the power plant, which had been stopped by the NET.
“We, the residents of Lamu, depend on the sea, and this project, if allowed, will adversely affect the sea and, by extension, our lives,” she said.
In early February, the residents of Lamu expressed frustration at what they termed frequent adjournments of the case, which they blamed on Amu Power Company, who allegedly failed to send its lawyers to several hearings.
Amu Power Company Limited aims to construct Kenya’s first-ever coal-burning power plant with a capacity of 1,050 megawatts at Kwasasi in Lamu, an area that residents claim is within the sensitive UNESCO World Heritage Site.
– By Emmanuel Masha
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
