Kenyan Court Halts Dangote Lamu Refinery Work as Dangote Says September 30 Groundbreaking Still Goes Ahead
A Kenyan court has ordered that activities at the site of the proposed Dangote refinery in Lamu County be paused, days before the planned groundbreaking ceremony. Dangote Group, however, insists the ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, has not been stopped, leaving the future of the Dangote Lamu refinery in a state of legal and political uncertainty.
The order was issued on September 25 by the Malindi Environment and Land Court. Judge Jane Onyango directed the parties to maintain the status quo at the site, and the case will return to court on October 14 for further directions. The order followed a petition by farmers and residents of Chandavai in Lamu County, where the $16 billion project is planned. Reports put the number of petitioners at 133.
The petitioners say the project involves the forceful eviction of residents from their land, along with the destruction of property, and that no resettlement plan exists for them. They also argue that the developers and Kenyan authorities did not carry out a mandatory environmental impact assessment or the public participation required by the constitution. The residents claim soil testing began in July 2026 and that police, chiefs and other officials cleared part of the disputed land on September 10 in advance of the ceremony.
The court did not grant everything the residents wanted. According to Kenyan reports, the order does not expressly stop the groundbreaking or the wider project, and the request to block the ceremony was not approved. Dangote Group used that point in its reply, saying the court had not halted the ceremony at this stage. It acknowledged, though, that activities at the site could be affected until the October 14 hearing. Some reports quote the company as saying no work will take place on the site until the case is heard.
Aliko Dangote reacted by describing such challenges as normal in Africa, recalling similar disputes his group has faced in other countries. He said the group was ready to confront anyone who tries to frustrate the project. He has also said the Kenyan plant will be larger than his existing Lagos refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The Lamu refinery is expected to produce 700,000 barrels per day and is intended to reduce East Africa’s reliance on imported refined fuel.
Kenyan President William Ruto has backed the project strongly. On September 25, he toured the Dangote refinery in Lekki, Lagos, and said his government had secured the land and was fast-tracking the remaining administrative processes to avoid delays. He is expected to perform the groundbreaking alongside Dangote. Heavy equipment weighing about 2,930 tonnes has reportedly arrived at Lamu Port.
Legal analysts note that a status quo order is a temporary measure and does not decide the merits of the case. The court will still need to consider the residents’ claims about compensation, consultation and environmental review.
For now, attention turns to the ceremony and then to the October 14 hearing, where the court is expected to decide how the dispute proceeds.
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