Ruto says no Lamu resident will be displaced over oil refinery project

President William Ruto leads in groundbreaking for the Dangote Reinery in Lamu on September 30, 2026. [PCS]

President William Ruto has assured residents of Lamu that no one will be displaced from the main site earmarked for the proposed refinery, saying the government has secured the land and will take responsibility for any compensation arising from the wider development.

Speaking at State House Mombasa, Ruto said the government had already secured about 10,000 acres for the refinery and was seeking an additional 3,000 acres to accommodate a planned Special Economic Zone (SEZ), factories and other supporting businesses.

“Lamu refinery, there are no wananchi that we are going to remove from that place. The land that is there is government land,” Ruto said.

The President said any residents who may be affected by land requirements outside the main government-owned site would not be left to negotiate directly with investors.

“And if there are wananchi who will be anywhere there, we will use the government process to handle that. The government of Kenya will take care of it. Not the investor,” he said.

The assurance comes amid growing attention to land, compensation and  community interests as the Lamu refinery is developed as part of a broader plan to establish an industrial hub along the coast.

Ruto said the government's responsibility would include facilitating compensation where necessary, as well as providing infrastructure such as power, water and roads to support investors.

He argued that such interventions would be relatively small compared with the economic benefits expected from the project, including jobs, trade, investment and industrial development.

The President also used the occasion to criticise what he described as past frustrations faced by investors seeking to establish businesses in Kenya, citing Dangote's earlier attempt to build a cement factory in Kitui.

Ruto recalled that Dangote approached him when he was Deputy President after encountering difficulties in advancing the proposed investment. He said he took the businessman to former President Uhuru Kenyatta in an effort to resolve the matter.

“I took him to the President and left him with President Uhuru Kenyatta, and it failed and he left,” Ruto said.

According to Ruto, the proposed cement plant could have been established years earlier had the investment not encountered obstacles. He said the experience demonstrated the need for government to create a predictable and welcoming environment for investors.

He alleged that investors had sometimes been subjected to demands for money or shares instead of being offered incentives to establish businesses.

“Other countries give incentives so that investors come. The problem with us is that instead of giving them incentives, we give them demands,” Ruto said.

He said his administration was taking a different approach, promising incentives to investors willing to establish industries in Kenya.

“We are going to give them incentive so that they can invest,” he said.

Ruto said the Kitui experience had not ended Kenya's efforts to attract investment to the area. He announced that another investor was already on the ground and planned to establish a project worth Sh33 billion.

The President said the lesson from the Dangote experience was that government must play its part in helping investors navigate land, infrastructure and other requirements.

“If you tell an investor to go and look for land, and he does not know the owners of the land, we will lose him,” he said.

The Lamu refinery, whose groundbreaking ceremony Ruto presided over a day earlier, is being advanced alongside plans for a Special Economic Zone designed to attract manufacturing and other industries.

The President said the government would continue shouldering responsibilities such as compensation, infrastructure and utility connections so that investors could focus on establishing productive enterprises.