A Kenyan court has declined to issue fresh interim orders over Dangote’s proposed Lamu refinery after 133 residents failed to serve the respondents properly in their land dispute.
A court in Malindi, Kenya, has declined to issue fresh interim orders to maintain the status quo over land earmarked for Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s proposed East Africa refinery in Lamu County, potentially allowing development activities to continue while a land dispute remains unresolved.
Justice Jane Onyango of the Environment and Land Court made the decision on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, after finding that 133 residents who filed the petition had not served Dangote and the other respondents in accordance with the court’s earlier directions.
The judge directed the petitioners to serve all parties within 14 days and granted them seven days to amend their petition to correct errors relating to the disputed property and village names.
“You did not serve the respondents as per the October 1, 2026, directions. Serve him and all parties within 14 days before the hearing. Leave is granted to amend the petition within seven days,” Onyango said.
She stressed that Dangote must be properly served before the matter could proceed to a hearing.
The respondents challenged the continuation of the earlier interim orders, arguing that the petitioners had not complied with the court’s service requirements.
A lawyer representing Southern Engineering Company Limited (SECO), Gitonga, told the court that service was mandatory and said he had not been served or informed of the proceedings.
A representative of the Attorney General also argued that the earlier orders were conditional on proper service, while counsel for the National Land Commission maintained that the orders referred to a different parcel of land in Watamu rather than the disputed property in Lamu.
The residents’ representative, Wakahiu, raised concerns about activity at the project site, including soil-testing work, and asked the court to consider what was happening on the ground.
The 133 residents contend that the proposed refinery threatens their property rights and have questioned whether the developers have complied with applicable environmental requirements.
The disputed land is in the Magogoni area of Lamu County, where the proposed refinery project is expected to cover thousands of acres.
The residents had previously secured an order on September 25 requiring the status quo to be maintained on the disputed parcel pending further proceedings. The order did not expressly stop the refinery’s groundbreaking ceremony, which took place on September 30.
The latest ruling concerns interim relief and procedural compliance. It does not amount to a final determination of the residents’ land claims or establish that all land acquisition and environmental requirements for the project have been satisfied. The case is scheduled to be mentioned again on November 24, 2026.
The Kenyan government has maintained that most of the land designated for the refinery is public property.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has said that much of the approximately 7,000-acre site belongs to the State. She has argued that residence on parts of the land does not, by itself, establish private ownership.
However, the residents’ claims over the disputed property remain before the court.
President William Ruto and Dangote formally launched construction of the proposed refinery on September 30, 2026, in a project estimated to cost approximately Sh2.2 trillion, or about $16 billion.
The facility is designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it one of the largest planned refineries globally. It is also expected to include a 1,000-megawatt power plant and form part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor.
Dangote has pledged to complete the project within 40 months of the groundbreaking ceremony and establish a training school in Lamu capable of training 1,000 local residents.
The refinery is expected to be commissioned by 2030 and is projected by the Kenyan government to generate more than 60,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Ruto has promised that land issues will be handled lawfully and fairly, adding that the government would compensate owners of any land required beyond the public land available for the project.
The government has also announced Sh7.5 billion for the construction of 3,000 housing units in Lamu to support development associated with the project.
While the court’s latest decision removes the immediate procedural obstacle to seeking fresh interim orders, the underlying dispute over land rights and environmental compliance remains unresolved.
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