The outcome of an appeal against the revocation of a licence to build a coal-fired power plant in Lamu County will be known on May 29, 2025, when the Environment and Land Court in Malindi will deliver its verdict.

On Monday, Justice Mwangi Njoroge received oral highlights of written submissions from Save Lamu, a community based organisation opposed to the construction of the plant, before setting the date of judgment.

The appellant, Amu Power Company Limited, presented written submissions but were not in court to highlight them, while the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), which is a party to the lawsuit, did not present any submissions, written or oral.

Amu Power Company went to the Environment and Land Court in 2019 to appeal against a decision of the National Environmental Tribunal (NET) that revoked an environmental impact assessment (EIA) licence that would have paved the way for the first coal-fired power plant in the country.

This is after the residents, through Save Lamu, took Amu Power Company Limited and NEMA to court in 2016 after NEMA issued an EIA licence to the company. The CBO won the case in 2019 after NET ruled that no proper public participation had been done prior to the issuance of the licence and that the EIA process was incomplete.

Save Lamu also filed a cross appeal contesting certain aspects of the NET ruling, including the conclusion that the analysis of alternative technologies was sufficient, which the tribunal did not consider.

Save Lamu argues that the proposed 1050 MW Lamu coal plant threatens the constitutional rights of local communities, including their rights to a clean and healthy environment, access to information and protection of their cultural heritage, livelihoods, and health. 

While highlighting Save Amu’s submissions, lawyer Mark Odaga made a passionate appeal to the court to find that the NET was right in revoking the EIA license and to consider the aspects that the residents felt they were not properly handled by the tribunal.

Among the issues Mr Odaga highlighted were alleged insufficient public participation in the EIA process, the scientific adequacy of the EIA report and the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of the coal plant.

Speaking to journalists after the court session, Mr Odaga said the respondents had given the court their reasons why it should not set aside the findings of the tribunal and that they had raised a few points that the tribunal had not considered despite the fact that the communities had marshalled sufficient evidence.

“We have invited the court to engage with that evidence and to hopefully give a positive determination to protect the environment, health, culture and the heritage of Lamu,” he said.  

“The residents of Lamu were keen to have their day in court, which is why we requested to be allowed to highlight our submissions in court.  The appellants on this occasion chose to rely on the written submissions, which is well within their rights. NEMA, which was also a party, did not file any submissions,” he added.

Ms Khadija Shekue, a resident of Lamu and the coordinator of Save Lamu, said the residents had turned up in large numbers for the hearing of the case to demonstrate that they are opposed to the establishment of the power plant, which had been stopped by the NET.

“We, the residents of Lamu, depend on the sea and this project, if allowed, will adversely affect the sea and hence our lives,” she said.

Early February, the residents of Lamu expressed frustrations at what they termed as frequent adjournments of the case, which they blamed on the Amu Power Company, who had allegedly failed to send its lawyers for the hearing of the matter on several instances.

Amu Power Company limited aims to construct Kenya’s first-ever coal-burning power plant with a capacity to produce 1,050 megawatts of electricity at Kwasasi in Lamu, an area the residents claim to be within the sensitive UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• A Tell / KNA report / By Emmanuel Masha

DSCN0111

Some of the residents of Lamu who jammed the Environment and Land Court in Malindi for the hearing of a case in which Amu Power Company Limited has appealed against the revocation of its EIA license by the National Environmental Tribunal (NET).

DSCN0115

Mr. Mark Odaga, the lawyer representing Save Lamu, a CBO opposed to the establishment of a coal-fired plant in Kwasasi area of Lamu County, addresses journalists outside the Malindi Law Courts after orally highlighting his clients’ submissions at the Environment and Land Court.