Kenyan Court Halts Dangote Refinery Construction, Firm Says Groundbreaking Still Holds

A Kenyan court has ordered a temporary halt to activities at the proposed Dangote Refinery in Lamu County following a legal challenge by farmers and residents of Chandavai, who alleged forceful eviction and destruction of their properties.

The Malindi Environment and Land Court directed that the “status quo prevailing” be maintained pending further hearing of the case.

The order was issued on September 25 by Justice Jane Onyango and made public on Monday, with the court expected to give further directions on October 14, according to a Bloomberg report.

A lawyer representing the petitioners, George Wakahiu, told Bloomberg that the order means construction activities on the project should not commence before the October 14 hearing.

The petitioners alleged that the refinery project involved “forceful eviction of the plaintiffs from their lands, damage and destruction of their properties and yet there is no resettlement plan for them.”

They also alleged that Dangote and the Kenyan authorities had failed to comply with Kenya’s environmental laws requiring “a mandatory environmental impact assessment be done before the implementation of any major project.”

According to the court filings, the proposed refinery also allegedly failed to meet constitutional requirements for “necessary public participation” before the project could proceed.

However, the Dangote Group said the court had not stopped the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery.

In a statement reported by Reuters on Tuesday, the conglomerate said activities at the proposed refinery site could be affected by the court order pending the October 14 hearing.

“The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. However, activities at the site may be affected by the ⁠ruling, as both parties are required not to carry out activities until the case is heard on 14th October,” the statement read.

The clarification came days before the planned September 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery in Lamu.

The development comes after Kenyan President William Ruto said his administration was fast-tracking administrative processes for the proposed Dangote refinery.

Ruto made the disclosure on Friday during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, ahead of the planned groundbreaking ceremony in Kenya.

The Kenyan President said his government had already secured the land for the project and was working on other requirements to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and ensure that construction and subsequent operations were not delayed.

He described the proposed refinery as a regional project that would expand industrial activities in East Africa, create employment opportunities and improve the technical skills of the region’s workforce.

Meanwhile, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said the planned Kenyan facility would be bigger than the existing Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria.

The proposed Lamu refinery is expected to have a production capacity of 700,000 barrels per day.