Constitution vs investment: The real test in Dangote oil refinery project

President William Ruto alongside Aliko Dangote in the groundbreaking of Lamu Oil Refrinery.[PCSS]

There is an old African saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. But sometimes the wiser lesson is that when two powerful interests meet, the community must never be reduced to grass. The unfolding controversy around the proposed Dangote project in Lamu therefore raises questions much bigger than whether one industrial project should proceed or stop.

At its heart lies a difficult but important discourse: how does Kenya protect foreign investment while simultaneously protecting the environment, community rights and the Constitution? The debate deserves space. It deserves evidence. Above all, it deserves civility as we do so.