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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Sunday 05 May 2024

Has Kenya signed off key assets to China?

Kenya's key strategic assets at home and abroad will not be protected by ‘sovereignty’ and risk being seized by the Chinese Government should there be a default in repaying the Standard Gauge Railway loan, the contract reveals. The initial agreement for the Mombasa-Nairobi railway signed on 11 May 2014 also details how the pact will be governed by Chinese laws with all disputes being arbitrated in Beijing. In addition, The Nation notes that the contract, and a subsequent one on the Nairobi-Naivasha phase, also have a confidentiality clause gagging Kenya from making the deal public ‘without prior written permission of the lender (China)’. This after President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to release the contract to put to rest any rumours that Beijing could seize the port of Mombasa.