Lamu coal plant hits snag as court reinstates stop orders

The fate of the Sh200 billion Lamu coal fired power plant now hangs in the balance following a recent move by the High Court sitting in Nairobi to reinstate all the stop orders concerning the establishment of the project.

The project under the Amu Power Company, a consortium of Gulf Energy and Centum Investment

is set to be established at Kwasasi Village in Hindi Division in Lamu West.

So far a total of 975 acres of land has been set aside at Kwasasi for the establishment of the project which is expected to generate 1,050 megawatts of power upon completion.

But on September 24, the High Court in Nairobi gave orders restoring all stop orders that were on the project. The petitions were filed by the Katiba Institute and activist Okiya Omtata.

The ruling comes in wake of protest by anti-coal campaigners at a side event of the Global Climate Action Summit, being held in San Francisco.

The anti-coal campaigners were protesting against the involvement of General Electric in the Lamu coal power plant, although Amu Power, through their lawyer, declared in court that they had not signed any deal with General Electric.

The ruling, however, does not affect the proceedings currently ongoing at the National Environmental Tribunal.

Meanwhile, anti-coal crusaders have termed the recent ruling by the Nairobi High Court as a boost to their campaigns.

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