Kenyan President William Ruto has defended a planned $16 billion oil refinery in coastal Lamu County, warning opposition politicians against turning the project into a political dispute as local residents challenge the use of land earmarked for its construction.
Ruto said on September 28 that the refinery would help bring investment and employment to Kenya’s coast, which he accused successive governments of neglecting, according to Citizen TV.
He said the project could create more than 60,000 jobs and support industrial development across the region, and added that “we are undertaking a historic initiative in Lamu. That initiative will ensure that the coast is not left behind again”.
The planned East Africa Refinery, linked to Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote and the Africa Finance Corporation, is expected to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The facility would supply petroleum products to Kenya and neighboring countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The government has scheduled the project’s groundbreaking ceremony for September 30, with several regional leaders expected to attend. Rwandan, Ethiopian, Togolese, Ugandan, Burundian and Beninese officials are among those expected at the event.
However, more than 130 residents from the Chandavai and Magogoni areas have petitioned the court to halt the project. They say their families have occupied the land for generations and fear displacement without compensation or resettlement.
The residents claim that preliminary excavation has already damaged crops, trees, homes and other property, and they also say the disputed area contains mosques, shrines and burial sites.
In their petition, they accuse government agencies and project developers of failing to issue the required notices, identify affected people, conduct a proper valuation or pay compensation before taking possession of the land.
The Malindi Environment and Land Court declined to suspend the planned groundbreaking but ordered parties to maintain the status quo on the disputed parcel in the Hindi-Manda Magogoni area. The case is scheduled for an inter partes hearing on October 14.
The refinery plans coincide with Kenya’s efforts to begin commercial crude production in Turkana. A drilling rig arrived at the Port of Mombasa on September 25, with drilling in the South Lokichar Basin expected to begin on November 1 and initial production targeted for December.
