Nigerian Firm’s Controversial Mombasa Land Deal Sparks Outrage Over Transparency Failures

Nigerian Firm Asharami Synergy Granted 31-Year Mombasa Land Lease Without Environmental Study or AG’s Nod—Deal Signed Before Gazette Notice

A murky deal granting Nigerian firm Asharami Synergy Ltd a 31-year lease on prime public land in Mombasa has ignited fierce criticism, with allegations of skipped legal steps, ignored oversight, and potential corruption.

The lease, intended for a multibillion-shilling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) handling and storage facility, was signed without an environmental impact study, without the Attorney General’s consent, and before public notification, raising red flags about transparency and accountability in Kenya’s public land dealings.

Documents obtained by Kenya Insights, including correspondence from a whistleblower within the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy, reveal a troubling sequence of events.

The land, owned by the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL), a largely defunct entity now under the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was leased to Asharami Synergy on April 6, 2025.

Astonishingly, the mandatory Kenya Gazette notice announcing the lease was published two days later, on April 8, effectively bypassing public scrutiny and input required by law.

Further compounding concerns, the deal proceeded without the Attorney General’s approval, a critical legal requirement for leasing public land.

Correspondence shows the AG’s concerns were “wilfully ignored,” according to Jaindi Kisero, a seasoned columnist who first broke the story. Kisero, citing parliamentary documents, also noted the absence of a fresh environmental impact study, with Asharami Synergy relying on a seven-year-old KPC study that experts say requires revalidation due to the significant public safety risks posed by LPG facilities.

The National Assembly’s Energy Committee has summoned KPC’s managing director to explain the circumstances surrounding the deal, which critics argue reeks of political interference and favoritism.

Sources suggest Asharami Synergy may have powerful local backers, with one unverified claim linking the firm to influential figures close to the government.

“This is a textbook case of how investors exploit weak governance to secure public assets,” said Kisero, pointing to the deal’s transformation from a simple land lease to a public-private partnership (PPP) under a “build, operate, and transfer” model.

This shift, he argues, allowed the firm to secure letters of support and implicit taxpayer-backed guarantees, turning the project into a potential financial liability for Kenyans.

The deal has also drawn comparisons to existing private LPG facilities, such as those operated by Mombasa-based industrialist Mohammed Jaffer’s AGOL, which were built without taxpayer support.

Critics question why Asharami Synergy was granted such generous concessions, including requests for free access to KPC’s front-end engineering designs, valued at Sh250 million, and the outdated environmental study.

Public land leases in Kenya have long been a hotbed for corruption, with experts warning that opaque processes and inadequate oversight create fertile ground for illicit deals.

“When information about leases and PPPs isn’t public, investors and officials can collude to divest public assets for personal gain,” Kisero noted, citing anti-corruption literature.

The controversy has fueled calls for the deal’s cancellation. KPC had initially planned to develop the LPG facility itself, investing heavily in designs before the project was abruptly handed to Asharami Synergy, reportedly at the behest of a “powerful player.”

As investigations unfold, Kenyans are left questioning whether their government prioritizes public interest or private profit.

The Energy Committee’s probe is expected to shed light on the deal’s irregularities, but for now, the Asharami Synergy lease stands as a stark reminder of the fragility of transparency in Kenya’s public sector.