A petitioner has moved to the High court in Kajiado seeking to stop the resumption of mining operations at Lake Magadi pending the determination of questions raised over compliance with constitutional, environmental and mining laws.
Francis Awino has filed a constitutional petition against the Cabinet Secretary for Mining, the Director General of the State Department for Mining, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), the County Government of Kajiado, the Attorney-General and Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited.
According to court papers, Awino has sued in the public interest on behalf of residents and affected host communities of Magadi.
"The petition and application is challenging any resumption, reinstatement, validation or continuation of mining operations by the 6th Respondent (Tata Chemicals) at Lake Magadi before transparent demonstration of compliance with the Constitution, the Mining Act, environmental law, applicable licences and obligations owed to the host community," his filings state.
The move follows the government's announcement on July 29, 2026, suspending the company's mining operations over what it described as unresolved statutory and compliance issues.
According to Awino, the issues identified by the government included mineral beneficiation and value addition, as well as royalty reconciliation and payments.
Other areas of concern were export reporting, implementation of Community Development Agreements, Kenyan employment and skills transfer, local procurement and environmental compliance.
Awino is now seeking court intervention to ensure that any decision allowing the company to resume operations is preceded by transparent verification of the outstanding compliance issues.
"The substratum of the intended Petition is the legality, transparency and constitutional adequacy of any decision to permit resumption," court papers states.
He has also raises concerns over the rights of the affected Magadi community, including access to information, fair administrative action, public participation and the right to a clean and healthy environment.
The petition further challenges what Awino describes as the need for transparent management of natural resources and compliance with obligations owed to the host community.
The petitioner has asked the court to preserve the status quo and require disclosure of the material compliance record before any resumption decision is made.
According to the petitioner, allowing mining operations to resume before the issues are addressed could render the constitutional petition ineffective.
He argues that the case requires an expeditious hearing because the subject matter could be overtaken by events if the company resumes operations before the court determines whether the necessary legal and regulatory requirements have been met.
In her directions, Justice Christine Meoli declined to certify the application as urgent when the matter came before her.
She directed that the application be served for directions on November 18, 2026.
The judge also declined to issue any interim orders at this stage.
