Kenya’s biggest wind power project is in a state of limbo after the Meru High Court canceled title deeds belonging to the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, which sits on 150,000 acres of land in Marsabit County.
In a Judgement seen by Kenyans.co.ke, on Thursday, October 28, Judges Peter Njoroge, Yuvinalis Angima, and Grace Kemei ruled that the title deeds issued for the project were acquired unlawfully.
This was after six petitioners filed a case before the Environment and Land Court in 2014, stating that they were acting in the interest of the residents of Laisamis Constituency and Karare Ward in Marsabit County.
The petitioners claimed that the land was community land and requested the court to revert the land back to the community.
"A declaration be and is hereby made that the setting part of suit properties was irregular, unlawful, and unconstitutional. The titles issued to the first defendant (The Lake Turkana wind project) are irregular and unlawful," read the judgment.
The land court further directed the Marsabit County government, the Attorney General, and the National Lands Commission (NLC) to conduct fresh acquisitions of the land, following due procedure as prescribed in the constitution.
"The defendants are granted one year to strictly comply with the existing law on setting apart failing which the impugned titles will stand canceled and the suit land shall revert to the community," read the judgment in part.
In their petition, the six petitioners also accused the project management of encroachment, claiming that the projects had fenced 400,000 acres of land.
They stated that the community was facing difficulties in accessing grazing land, further asking the court to cancel the project.
However, the three-judge bench declined to cancel the project, stating that it was in the public interest.
"From our earlier discourse in this judgment, we are not inclined to nullify a completed project. The prayer by the plaintiff for the nullification of the wind power project is hereby denied," read the judgment.
In July 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned the wind power project which is estimated to cost Ksh70 billion.
The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is also the biggest wind project in Africa and has the capacity to dispense 310MW to the national grid.
