Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote's Kenya refinery deal faces urgent court case

A Kenyan judge has fast-tracked a petition demanding that the government disclose the terms of its planned investment in the oil refinery that Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, is building in Lamu, opening a second legal challenge to the project in less than a month.

Justice David Mburu of the High Court certified the case as urgent on Tuesday, Oct. 6, a week after Dangote and President William Ruto broke ground on the refinery on Sept. 30. The judge ordered that the petition be served on the respondents in person within two days and set the case for mention on Nov. 12, when the court will check compliance and give further directions.

The petition was filed by activist Francis Awino. It seeks details of the public money, land, tax incentives, guarantees and other resources the government intends to commit to the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals special economic zone, along with the terms, valuations, approvals and decisions behind any state investment.

A stake funded by public assets

At the center of the case is the National Infrastructure Fund. Ruto has said Kenya will use the fund and public assets, including land, to acquire a stake in the refinery, which the Nation puts at a cost of Sh2.2 trillion.

In his affidavit, Awino says he has not been given the legal instrument authorizing the fund's participation, the source and size of its funding, or documents showing how large the state's shareholding would be.

He has sued the attorney general, the National Treasury, energy and petroleum officials, lands officials, the National Environment Management Authority, the National Land Commission, Lamu County, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, the Kenya Ports Authority, the Kenya Maritime Authority and the National Infrastructure Fund. The refinery's Kenyan company and the Capital Markets Authority are named as interested parties.

The case is at an early stage, and the government and other respondents have yet to file their responses.

A second front

The petition adds to a separate legal fight over the land. A court in Malindi ordered the status quo to be maintained at the refinery site after 133 Lamu residents claimed rights over land earmarked for the project. That case is due back in court on Oct. 14. Dangote Group said the order did not stop the groundbreaking but acknowledged that activity at the site could be affected until the hearing.

Ruto has defended the deal and told critics to seek the agreement through Parliament.

Dangote plans a 700,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Lamu, matching the scale of his plant near Lagos, at an estimated cost of $15 billion to $16 billion, with completion targeted for 2030. East Africa has had no working refinery since Kenya Petroleum Refineries closed in 2013, and the region imports about 90% of its fuel.

The legal challenges come as Dangote courts Kenyan investors for the initial public offering of his Nigerian refinery, which closes on Oct. 13. Kenya's Capital Markets Authority has approved seven firms to give Kenyan investors access to the offer.