International Court of Arbitration in London throws out Sh31b case against Kenya

International Court of Arbitration sitting in London has thrown out a Sh31 billion case filed by Kinangop Wind Power Plant Ltd against the Government of Kenya.

The arbitration arose out of a proposed 60.8 Megawatt wind turbine farm to be located in Kinangop at a cost of US $154 million. The project, if successful, was a Vision 2030 initiative, which sought to increase the power generation capacity from 1.5GW to 5.6GW by the year 2022.

The two weeks hearing took place in London, December 2017, where Kinangop Wind Park sought compensation and damages under the Letter of Support issued by the Government of Kenya for the erection of 38 wind turbines alleging that the government had failed to eliminate a political event emanating from community protests.

The project never materialized as the community in Kinangop raised concerns about the manner in which the project was being implemented. Specifically, there was no proper community engagement and sensitization, compensation of the people around the setback areas, relocation and the manner in which the land was leased.

The Government of Kenya on its part filed a defence denying the allegations and contemporaneously filed a counterclaim and an order for costs.

The Tribunal in its ruling declared that there was no Political Event within the meaning of the Letter of Support and dismissed Kinangop Wind Park Limited’s claims and request for reliefs.