Lands CS Gives Way Forward on Dangote Refinery Land Compensation

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Wahome said the government has identified about 7,000 acres for the refinery, with an additional parcel of more than 2,000 acres also identified as state-owned land.

She added that the presence of people living on some of the land does not necessarily mean that the land intended for the refinery is private land.

“The government was dealing with different categories of people in the area, including genuine squatters who may have occupied particular pieces of land for decades and may have no other place to go,” she explained.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to the CS, some of the families have lived on those for 50-60years and have passed them down over decades, making the process of establishing genuine ownership more complicated.

The clarification came as some Lamu residents challenged the development in court, where they argued that parts of the land earmarked for the refinery are ancestral property and raised concerns over compensation and displacement.

In addition to this, CS Wahome said that the government already has data on the original landowners and those with legitimate claims while dealing with wider land issues surrounding the refinery.

She also claimed that some of the people who had taken the government to court over the project had been “planted by enemies of development”. However, she maintained that genuine cases would still be addressed.

The CS also added that the government was involved in the process because the refinery development is a multi-agency project requiring coordination on land, resettlement, and the handling of cases involving members of the public who might be affected.

The additional question comes as the government moves ahead with the Ksh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Refinery, which was officially launched on September 30.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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