President William Ruto and Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote. PHOTO/PSCU.
By PATRICK MAYOYO
No, Mr President. Kenyans who’re asking questions concerning the Dangote East Africa Refinery in Lamu should not extortionists. They’re residents and taxpayers.
They’re members of communities whose land, livelihoods, setting and cultural heritage could also be affected by one of many largest industrial initiatives ever proposed in Kenya. They usually have each proper to ask questions.
President William Ruto’s choice to dismiss critics of the Sh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Refinery as “extortionists” and “brokers” is, in my opinion, a harmful distraction from the extra elementary query: was each authorized, constitutional and environmental safeguard noticed earlier than Kenya celebrated the venture’s groundbreaking?
That query can’t be shouted down. It can’t be dismissed as blackmail. And it definitely can’t be answered by a groundbreaking ceremony.
The refinery was formally launched in Lamu on September 30, 2026, with President Ruto and Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote presiding over the ceremony. The proposed refinery is predicted to course of about 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day and represents a roughly $16 billion funding.
I’ve no quarrel with funding. I’ve no quarrel with jobs. I’ve no quarrel with industrialisation. What I object to is the concept the larger the funding, the much less scrutiny it ought to obtain.
Massive cash doesn’t droop the Structure. A billionaire’s funding doesn’t outrank Kenyan legislation. And a presidential groundbreaking ceremony doesn’t retrospectively remedy a failure to comply with due course of.
The place to begin is the Environmental Administration and Co-ordination Act, 1999.
Part 58(1) requires a venture proponent, earlier than financing or commencing an endeavor specified within the Second Schedule, to submit a venture report back to the Nationwide Atmosphere Administration Authority (NEMA).
The place NEMA determines that the venture could have, or is prone to have, a major affect on the setting, Part 58(2) requires the proponent to undertake an environmental affect evaluation examine and put together a report. That’s not a bureaucratic suggestion. It’s the legislation.
Tools on the ground-breaking ceremony. PHOTO/PSCU.
And NEMA itself couldn’t be clearer: an Environmental Impression Evaluation (EIA) is a authorized requirement earlier than graduation of a venture, the method requires the proponent to hunt the views of people that could also be affected, and an EIA licence is to be issued earlier than graduation.
NEMA additional states {that a} proponent or investor mustn’t implement a venture for which an EIA is required except the EIA has been concluded and authorised in accordance with the legislation.
So my query is easy: The place is the environmental evaluation? The place is the licence? The place are the paperwork? The place is the proof that the general public was meaningfully consulted? These should not unreasonable questions. They’re exactly the questions the legislation requires Kenyans to ask.
And for a refinery of this magnitude, the questions grow to be much more necessary as a result of an environmental evaluation shouldn’t be merely about bushes and soil.
NEMA identifies social and human issues together with financial impacts, social disruption, human well being, biodiversity and ecosystem safety amongst issues that must be thought of in an EIA.
That’s the reason I’d reasonably discuss concerning the environmental and social penalties that should be assessed by way of the relevant EIA or Environmental and Social Impression Evaluation (ESIA) framework than fake {that a} venture of this scale may be diminished to a query of funding figures and jobs.
The Structure is equally clear. Article 10 makes “participation of the individuals” a nationwide worth and precept of governance and binds State organs, State officers, public officers and all individuals every time they apply or interpret the Structure, enact or apply legislation, or make or implement public coverage choices.
This isn’t an ornamental phrase inserted into the Structure to make authorities paperwork look democratic. It’s a constitutional obligation.
And Article 35 offers each citizen the best of entry to data held by the State. It additionally requires the State to publish and publicise necessary data affecting the nation.
So when Kenyans ask to see the agreements, approvals, possession buildings, environmental paperwork, land preparations and different information underpinning a Sh2.2 trillion venture, they aren’t asking for a favour.
They’re asking to train a constitutional proper. What precisely is the federal government asking Kenyans to belief? That is the place transparency turns into unavoidable.
Members of the general public on the ground-breaking ceremony. PHOTO/PSCU.
Kenyans need to know the contractual structure behind the refinery. They need to know what Kenya has dedicated. They need to know what Dangote has dedicated. They need to know who finally owns and controls the Kenyan venture firm.
Additionally they need to know what land has been allotted, on what phrases and after what course of. They need to know the way affected residents shall be compensated, what environmental safeguards have been authorised and what obligations the investor has to native communities.
I additionally need to know what the Kenyan individuals obtain in return for the land, infrastructure, public assist and regulatory approvals being deployed round this venture.
These questions have grow to be much more pressing as a result of the refinery groundbreaking occurred towards the backdrop of a stay land dispute. On September 25, 2026, the Malindi Atmosphere and Land Court docket ordered the events to keep up the established order regarding disputed land related to the venture, following a case introduced by 133 residents. The matter is scheduled for additional listening to on October 14.
The courtroom order didn’t cease the ceremonial groundbreaking. However its existence ought to have made everybody pause and ask a primary query: Why are we celebrating first and resolving the excellent authorized questions later?
There may be one other concern that I can’t ignore and which has already been raised by Linda Mwananchi chief and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. President Ruto took the constitutional Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Due Execution of Workplace.
Beneath the Oath of Allegiance, the President swears or solemnly affirms that he’ll “obey, protect, defend and defend” the Structure and all different legal guidelines of the Republic.
Beneath the Oath of Due Execution of Workplace, he swears or solemnly affirms that he’ll serve the individuals and the Republic of Kenya and carry out his features in accordance with the Structure and the legal guidelines of Kenya, “with out worry, favour, affection or ill-will.”
These oaths are prescribed within the Third Schedule pursuant to Article 141(3) of the Structure. They don’t seem to be ceremonial poetry. They’re a constitutional dedication.
So when Kenyans ask whether or not the Lamu refinery course of has complied with Kenyan legislation, they ate not attacking the President personally. They’re asking him to stay as much as the very constitutional oath he took.
If the venture has complied with each requirement, then publish the proof and let the paperwork converse. There may be a further motive why this venture calls for extraordinary scrutiny.
President William Ruto and Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote strolling in the direction of the venue of the Dangote East Africa Refinery ground-breaking ceremony in Lamu. PHOTO/PSCU.
Lamu is environmentally and culturally delicate. Lamu Outdated City is a UNESCO World Heritage website, and the broader space has a particular ecological, cultural and social character. That makes questions on land, marine ecosystems, fishing, heritage, livelihoods and cumulative industrial impacts significantly severe.
That is why growth in Lamu can’t be judged merely by the variety of barrels the refinery will course of or the variety of jobs politicians promise. Growth needs to be sustainable. It has to respect communities. It has to respect the legislation. And it has to guard the rights of future generations.
Let me be clear: if any person is demanding cash from an investor in trade for withdrawing a authentic objection, that may be a matter for the legislation. However a citizen submitting a courtroom case over land shouldn’t be routinely an extortionist.
A journalist asking to see authorities contracts shouldn’t be routinely an extortionist. A resident demanding compensation shouldn’t be routinely an extortionist. An environmentalist demanding an evaluation shouldn’t be routinely an extortionist.
A senator demanding disclosure of public data shouldn’t be routinely an extortionist. And a Kenyan asking whether or not the federal government adopted the legislation is definitely not an extortionist.
Calling each critic a dealer or extortionist doesn’t reply the criticism. It merely adjustments the topic. The actual concern stays: present us the paperwork.
Lawyer Dr Ekuru Aukot has referred to as for disclosure of paperwork regarding the venture, together with the contract between the Authorities of Kenya and Dangote East Africa Refinery and Petrochemicals SEZ and knowledge on the corporate’s useful possession.
He has additionally sought particulars of the corporate’s administrators, CR12 information for regionally integrated company shareholders, corresponding information for international company shareholders, constitutional paperwork of related company shareholders and knowledge figuring out the final word useful house owners.
These requests go to the guts of transparency. Who owns the corporate? Who controls it? Who sits on its board? What precisely has Kenya agreed to? What obligations have been assumed? What advantages have been secured for Kenyans? And what occurs if the venture fails to ship what has been promised?
These are affordable questions for a venture of this scale. The refinery might doubtlessly rework Kenya’s power sector and Lamu’s financial system.
The venture is predicted to create main employment alternatives, increase industrial capability and strengthen regional power safety. The federal government has offered it as a flagship funding able to remodeling Kenya’s financial fortunes.
I don’t dismiss these potentialities. However neither ought to we permit the promise of prosperity to grow to be an excuse for procedural shortcuts. Kenya doesn’t have to decide on between funding and the rule of legislation. We will have each. Certainly, we will need to have each.
Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed talking on the ground-breaking ceremony of the Dangote East Africa Refinery in Lamu. PHOTO/PSCU.
A severe investor ought to welcome a clear regulatory course of as a result of it offers the funding certainty and legitimacy. A severe authorities ought to welcome scrutiny as a result of it demonstrates that its choices can stand up to examination. That’s how sustainable funding works.
President Ruto has repeatedly offered the refinery as proof that Kenya is open for severe funding. Then let Kenya display that it is usually open to severe scrutiny.
Let NEMA publish the related environmental approvals. Let the federal government publish the agreements it’s legally in a position to disclose. Let the general public perceive the land preparations. Let affected communities perceive their rights. Let the environmental and social safeguards be independently scrutinised. Let the courts decide the disputes earlier than them.
And let Kenyans see the possession and beneficial-control construction behind a venture that may have penalties far past the ground-breaking ceremony.
That may silence way more critics than presidential denunciations ever might. As a result of transparency shouldn’t be the enemy of funding. Transparency is what offers funding legitimacy.
The Dangote refinery could certainly grow to be probably the most consequential industrial initiatives in Kenya’s historical past. However its legacy shouldn’t be that Kenya discovered to bend its guidelines every time the cheque was large enough.
Its legacy must be that Kenya proved one thing extra necessary: that even the largest investor should obey Kenyan legislation; that even probably the most highly effective authorities should reply to the Structure; and that even the poorest citizen has the best to ask questions on a venture which will change the way forward for his or her group.
That’s not extortion. That’s citizenship. That’s accountability. And that’s what constitutional democracy appears to be like like. The refinery can have billions. The President can have energy. Dangote can have world affect.
However none of them is above the legislation.
