Boost for Energy Sector as Court Upholds Environmental Permit for Lake Gas

Kenya, 15 December 2025 – The High Court has delivered a major legal victory for Lake Gas Limited, reviving the environmental permit for its cooking gas import and handling facility in Kilifi County after it was previously nullified by a regulatory tribunal.

The ruling is seen as a significant boost for investor confidence in Kenya’s energy infrastructure sector.

Justice Evans Makori of the Environment and Land Court in Malindi, set aside the earlier decision made in March by the National Environment Tribunal (NET), which had revoked the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permit on procedural grounds.

The permit, originally issued on December 10, 2019, is now reinstated, allowing Lake Gas to proceed with plans to expand the facility’s capacity.

“The orders cancelling the EIA licence … is set aside because the appeal before the NET was filed more than five years after the licence was issued,” Justice Makori said in his ruling, underscoring a key legal basis for restoring the company’s permit.

The initial permit revocation came after a group of local residents challenged the project, alleging inadequate public participation and environmental concerns.

However, Lake Gas argued that the petition was filed too late and that the facility had already been built and commenced operations, including receiving its first consignment of imported cooking gas earlier this year.

The court’s decision resonates beyond Lake Gas alone, as it comes at a time when energy investors and industry players are closely watching how environmental regulations and permitting systems affect project implementation in Kenya and across Africa.

In other markets, environmental authorisations have become flashpoints for legal challenges, a factor that some industry advocates say can slow down investment but which environmental groups view as essential for protection of communities and ecosystems.

Lake Gas, part of the broader Lake Group owned by Tanzanian entrepreneur Ally Edha Awadh, built the facility with an initial capacity of 10,000 tonnes and is planning an expansion to 22,000 tonnes to capture a larger share of Kenya’s imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market.

Mr. Awadh’s firm has already begun attracting attention by safely offloading imported LPG from Nigeria and managing storage and distribution through the Vipingo facility.

In a separate statement last year, Mr. Awadh described the commissioning of the plant as a milestone in expanding Kenya’s access to cleaner energy and reinforcing regional energy capacity. “It boosts the country’s LPG import capacity and shows our commitment to making clean energy more accessible,” he said when the facility received its first shipment.