Inside the Land Dispute Threatening Dangote’s Sh2 Trillion Refinery Project in Lamu

The planned Dangote refinery in Lamu is billed as a giant leap for Kenya’s industrial ambitions, but it now sits at the centre of a fierce fight over who owns the land beneath it.

The project is valued at Sh2 trillion, and 133 residents of Chandavai have challenged it in court, saying the land is their ancestral property.

Once completed, the plant is projected to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude a day, which could make it the largest refinery in East and Central Africa.

The residents say their families have farmed, grazed livestock and built homes, mosques and shrines on the land, and they allege bulldozers entered it on August 7, 2024, destroying crops and trees.

They add that they are not against development but want their rights recognised first. The parcel in question is known as LR No. 13061.

The government sees it differently. It maintains that much of the land is already public, and an official has said investigators are examining alleged fraudulent titles.

The legal fight has moved quickly. On September 25, Justice Jane Onyango declined to treat the application as urgent and ordered the status quo kept until October 14. Residents protested on September 29 over compensation, community participation and environmental requirements, a day before the planned groundbreaking.

Then came a turn. On October 14, the judge lifted the restriction after finding that the petitioners had named the wrong parcel, though the wider land dispute remains unresolved.

Political voices are weighing in too. Lamu Woman Representative Muthoni Marubu welcomed the investment but warned that unresolved claims in the Hindi–Magogoni Phase II Settlement Scheme could leave local families without land, and urged the government to identify genuine beneficiaries first.

The case shows a familiar tension in big infrastructure projects: investors want certainty, while families who have lived on the land for generations want recognition and fair compensation.

How courts and the government settle ownership may decide how smoothly the refinery proceeds.

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