Kalonzo backs the Sh2.2 Trillion Dangote refinery project

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…