(LAMU, KENYA) – More than 130 residents of Kenya’s coastal Lamu County have filed a lawsuit accusing the government of forcibly displacing them from ancestral land to make way for major infrastructure projects, including a proposed $16 billion (KES 2.07 trillion / GBP 12.3 billion) oil refinery backed by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.
The case, lodged at the Environment and Land Court, comes just days before a scheduled groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery, which is being developed by Dangote Industries and is expected to transform Lamu into East Africa’s largest petroleum processing hub.
The 133 residents of Mvinjeni village in Chandavai claim that government agencies destroyed their homes, crops, trees and other property without prior notice, consultation or compensation, leaving them without a resettlement plan and effectively turning them into internally displaced persons.
In court papers, the residents state they are seeking redress “to protect their civil and constitutional rights and secure their livelihoods as any Kenyan citizen should under the Constitution of Kenya.”
The disputed parcels are located near Manda Bay Camp, which hosts the Kenya Navy Base, the United States’ Camp Simba and Magogoni Airfield. The residents say their families have lived on the land for generations, building homes, mosques and shrines, and burying their loved ones there.
They claim the land is community property under the stewardship of Lamu County and that they have occupied it peacefully without ownership disputes.
According to the court filings, the residents’ troubles began on 7th August 2024, when Kenya Defence Forces officers, local chiefs and other government agents entered the land with bulldozers and heavy machinery. The officials allegedly destroyed crops, trees and other property without prior notice, consultation or compensation.
The residents say they depended on the land for food production and livestock keeping, and that the destruction deprived them of their economic mainstay.
When they sought answers from local administrators, they were reportedly informed that the land had been acquired for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project and subsequently allocated to the Ministry of Defence. They further allege the land was earmarked for construction of the LAPSSET road, infrastructure expansion and emergency services linked to Manda Bay military facilities.
The residents claim they were told the expansion included 294,000 square feet of airfield construction, increased fuel storage capacity and accommodation facilities for hundreds of US service members on rotational deployment. Local administrators reportedly asked them not to interfere with construction activities and promised compensation for destroyed crops. Some residents say they were forced to move into rented houses to give way to construction and expansion of the LAPSSET road, Kenya Navy Base, US Camp Simba and Magogoni Airfield.
“The Plaintiffs aver that they and their ancestors have lived on, cultivated, and developed the suit property for generations and that the land has been passed down through families, with no formal title deeds issued to them,” the residents stated in their court papers.
The residents claim that in May 2026, President William Ruto announced that Dangote Industries would construct a $15 billion to $20 billion oil refinery in Kenya, leveraging the LAPSSET Corridor in Lamu.
They allege that in July, Dangote Industries, through its engineering and project management contractors, began excavating deep holes for soil testing and preparing the site for construction of refinery tanks, pipelines, storage facilities and other infrastructure.
The residents argue that although they do not hold formal title deeds, their long occupation, cultivation and development of the land gives them compensable interests under Article 40(4) of the Constitution and the Land Act. They contend they qualify as “interested persons” under the compulsory acquisition provisions of the Land Act because they are actual occupants of the land, even where their interests are not reflected in the land register.
The petitioners accuse the government of failing to conduct proper surveys and valuations of their land and property, denying them fair compensation and due process. They also accuse authorities of failing to consult them or involve them in decisions affecting their property.
The residents want the court to protect their constitutional and property rights, arguing that the compulsory acquisition process has proceeded without recognising their interests or giving them an opportunity to participate.
The lawsuit presents a significant challenge for the refinery project, which Dangote has positioned as a cornerstone of his expanding African refining strategy. The facility is designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which would make it the largest refinery in East Africa if completed at planned capacity.
The project has attracted international engineering expertise, with Engineers India Ltd signing a $450 million (KES 58.3 billion / GBP 345 million) contract to oversee construction of the greenfield refinery and petrochemical plant.
Financing for the project remains incomplete. Disclosed financing totals $1.6 billion against a price tag estimated at $15 billion to $20 billion. Dangote Group has offered East African nations a combined 30% equity stake valued at $1.5 billion, with Kenya’s individual 10% allocation estimated at approximately $500 million (KES 64.7 billion / GBP 383 million).
Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji has committed $100 million (KES 12.9 billion / GBP 76.6 million) to the project.
The refinery is expected to process crude from Lokichar in Turkana County, as well as crude from other parts of East and southern Africa. Two separate pipelines are tied to the project: one connecting Lamu to Ethiopia and another linking Djibouti to Ethiopia, as part of a larger 4,000-kilometre pipeline network proposal.
Dangote anticipates completion around 2029 to 2030, with construction beginning in October and running approximately three years from groundbreaking.
The project would revive large-scale domestic petroleum refining in Kenya more than a decade after the former Kenya Petroleum Refineries facility in Mombasa stopped crude refining and shifted to petroleum storage. East Africa remains heavily dependent on imported refined petroleum products, leaving the region exposed to international fuel prices, freight costs, foreign-exchange pressures and global supply disruptions.
Kenya currently has no commercial crude production sufficient to feed a refinery of this scale, meaning the plant could initially depend heavily on imported crude. Potential supplies from Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan have been identified, but infrastructure and geopolitical constraints could complicate those options.