Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has welcomed the Sh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery investment in Lamu, but insisted that support for foreign capital must go hand in hand with transparency, due process and public accountability.
Speaking on Wednesday after visiting abducted activist Collins Odhiambo at Life Care Hospital, Kalonzo rejected the suggestion that criticism of major investments amounts to opposition to foreign investors.
“It’s the moment for Africa,” Kalonzo said, stressing that Kenya should remain open to foreign direct investment while ensuring major projects ultimately deliver value to citizens.
“We welcome foreign-direct investment but let this not be confused with what Bwana Ruto is saying, some of us are against this or the other. We just want to get due process,” he said.
His remarks came on the day President William Ruto and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote broke ground for the proposed refinery in Lamu, signalling the formal beginning of construction of one of Kenya’s largest planned industrial investments.
The project is valued at about Sh2.2 trillion and is designed to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
Dangote has said construction will take about 40 months and is expected to supply petrol, diesel and jet fuel to Kenya and other regional markets, with the wider project projected to create tens of thousands of jobs and stimulate industries around Lamu Port and the LAPSSET corridor.
For Kalonzo, the investment also carries a personal and political connection to Lamu’s development history.
He recalled his involvement with former President Mwai Kibaki and the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the development of Vision 2030, under which the LAPSSET corridor and Lamu Port were identified as flagship projects.
“It was President Kibaki, me and Raila—we started the LAPSSET project at the time in Lamu,” he said. “We welcome foreign direct investment.”
LAPSSET—short for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor—was conceived as a major infrastructure network linking the northern Kenyan coast with inland Kenya and neighbouring countries.
Lamu Port remains a central component of that vision, with the refinery now being positioned as another major industrial anchor around the port.
Kalonzo, however, used the refinery debate to reaffirm what he described as the Opposition’s oversight role.
“When we objected to the Adani deals, the President was forced to withdraw that alleged privatisation of JKIA and also Ketraco,” he said, referring to deals involving Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company.
He argued that scrutiny should not be interpreted as hostility to investment.
“Some claim that we in the Opposition oppose everything, even foreign investment in Kenya. That is not true. We welcome investment. What we demand is due process. We will not support deals that enrich a few individuals. Kenyans must be the ones to benefit,” he said.
The refinery itself is already attracting scrutiny beyond politics. Questions have been raised over land rights, compensation and environmental concerns, while another major issue is crude supply.
Kenya’s projected domestic production would be far below the refinery’s 700,000-barrel daily capacity, meaning the facility would rely heavily on crude from other African producers and international sources.
Government officials have meanwhile presented the refinery as a transformative investment capable of strengthening energy security, industrialisation and regional trade.
ODM leader Oburu Oginga has also backed the project, urging Lamu and Coast residents to support the investment and reject efforts to derail it.
