在距离大选还有10个月之际，阿利科·丹格特在肯尼亚海岸兴建炼油厂的这个耗资160亿美元的项目，正处于一场高风险政治争斗的中心。
The $16 billion project to build Aliko Dangote’s refinery on the Kenyan coast is at the center of a high-stakes political battle ahead of elections in 10 months.
总统威廉·鲁托将他的竞选连任押在了一系列重大基础设施开发项目上。他辩称，该炼油厂可以使肯尼亚的年度国内生产总值提高12%。其他预计带来的好处还包括向国家电网增加500兆瓦电力以及数千个新工作岗位。
President William Ruto is hinging his second-term bid on a series of major infrastructure developments. He has argued that the refinery could raise Kenya’s annual gross domestic product by 12%. Additional expected benefits include 500MW added to the national grid and thousands of new jobs.
但越来越多的诉讼（其中一些由其政治对手发起）正威胁要推迟该项目的建设，该项目原定于2030年完工。背后推动法律行动的团体声称，该项目只是鲁托及其政府签署的一系列“秘密交易”中的最新一起。
But mounting litigation, some initiated by his political rivals, is threatening to delay its construction, scheduled to be completed by 2030. Groups behind the legal action allege that the project is only the latest in a series of “secretive deals” signed by Ruto and his administration.
政府拒绝公开与炼油厂相关的关键协议，受到了反对派领导人的批评，其中包括鲁托的主要挑战者之一、内罗毕参议员埃德温·西富纳。他在议会发起了一项动议，要求公开包括炼油厂合同在内的文件。
The government’s refusal to make public key agreements related to the refinery has been criticized by opposition leaders, including one of Ruto’s main challengers, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. He has launched a bid in parliament for the documents, including the refinery contract, to be released.
关于对环境、炼油厂附近居住的社区以及纳税人的影响，仍然存在未解的问题。
Unanswered questions remain over the impact on the environment, the community living near the refinery, and taxpayers.
总统及其盟友警告称，影响关键项目的法律障碍和不确定性可能会打击投资者信心。
The president and his allies have warned that legal hurdles and uncertainty affecting key projects could dampen investor confidence.
鲁托政府对针对其金融交易的法庭挑战并不陌生。在多起案件被驳回后，该国私有化燃料管道公司的计划最终得到了批准。上个月，政府将电信公司萨法里科姆公司价值16亿美元的股份出售给英国沃达丰公司的交易被法院宣布为非法——该政府已提起上诉。
Ruto’s government is no stranger to court challenges to its financial deals. Its plan to privatize the country’s fuel pipeline company was eventually approved after various cases were dismissed. Last month, the $1.6 billion sale of a government stake in telecoms company Safaricom to UK’s Vodafone was declared illegal by the courts — the administration has launched an appeal.
根据政府文件，这两项交易都旨在为鲁托的基础设施建设计划提供资金。
Both deals are meant to fund Ruto’s infrastructure push, according to government documents.
反对派“第三条道路联盟”领导人埃库鲁·奥科特对《semafor》表示，如果政府未能满足他在信息公开请求中提出的10月23日最后期限（该请求旨在寻求关于炼油厂的更多细节，包括受益者的名字），他将“绝对提起诉讼”。
Ekuru Aukot, leader of the opposition Thirdway Alliance,told Semafor he would “definitely file a suit” if the government failed to meet an Oct. 23 deadline in his access to information request seeking more details about the refinery including the names of those who stand to benefit.
他说：“我们不反对投资。我们要说的是，遵守法律，遵守宪法。”
“We are not opposed to investment. What we are saying is follow the law, follow the constitution,” he said.
西富纳在社交媒体上表示：“在我们将现行政权赶下台并让我们的国家回到法治轨道时，在黑暗中谈判秘密交易的时代将会结束。”他补充说，鲁托正在阻挠他在议会推动获取更多细节的努力。他坚持认为，信息披露是“一项宪法当务之急”。由100多名拉穆居民发起的诉讼也面临着长期诉讼的威胁，他们认为炼油厂的地址是他们祖传土地的一部分，法院已下令暂停建设，直至审理此案。
“The era of secretive deals negotiated in the dark will end when we kick this current regime out and return our country back to the rule of law,” Sifuna said on social media, adding that Ruto was frustrating his parliamentary push for more details. He insisted that the disclosure was “a constitutional imperative.”The threat of protracted litigation also looms over a suit launched by more than 100 Lamu residents arguing that the site of the refinery is part of their ancestral lands, with a court halting construction until the matter is heard.
此外，维权团体对政府未能公布环境影响报告敲响了警钟，绿色和平组织威胁要采取法律行动。去年，该组织为阻止在拉穆建设20亿美元燃煤电厂而进行的为期五年的努力以维权人士的成功告终。
In addition, campaign groups have raised the alarm over the government’s failure to publish the environmental impact report, with Greenpeace threatening legal action. Last year, its five-year effort to block the construction of a $2 billion coal plant in Lamu ended in success for the activists.
尽管面临法律诉讼，于9月30日为炼油厂项目奠基的丹格特和鲁托仍表示相信该项目将克服法律障碍。
Despite the legal cases, Dangote and Ruto, who broke ground on the refinery project on Sept. 30, have expressed confidence that the project will overcome the legal hurdles.
鲁托在上届大选中被视为年轻人和受压迫者的候选人，但在2024年由Z世代领导的导致数十名示威者被警察杀害的致命抗议活动之后，鲁托的支持率尤其是年轻人的支持率有所下降。相反，鲁托现在严重依赖他的基础设施计划和承诺的机会来巩固对他的竞选连任的支持。
Seen as the candidate for the young and downtrodden in the last election, Ruto’s popularity has waned especially among the youth after the deadly 2024 Gen Z-led protests in which dozens of demonstrators were killed by police. Instead, Ruto is now leaning heavily on his infrastructure plans and the promised opportunities to shore up support for his re-election campaign.
他承诺在10年内将肯尼亚“从第三世界带入第一世界”，并公布了一项旨在资助各种项目的380亿美元基础设施基金。
He has promised to move Kenya “from third world to first world” within 10 years, and unveiled a $38 billion infrastructure fund meant to finance various projects.
丹格特对这些异议泰然处之。在奠基仪式前夕于内罗毕向投资者发表讲话时，丹格特表示，法律挑战“对我们非洲人来说是正常的。事实上，这只是小事。”他将其塞内加尔水泥厂受到的担忧进行了类比，该水泥厂曾因土地相关的法律纠纷而面临延误。他说：“他们让我们的工厂停工了一年。我们一直打到了最高法院才得到判决。”
Dangote is taking the objections in his stride. Speaking to investors in Nairobi ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony, Dangote said legal challenges were “normal for us in Africa. In fact, this is small.”He drew parallels with concerns over his cement plant in Senegal, which faced delays over land-related legal disputes. “They stopped our factory for one year. We went up to the Supreme Court to get a judgment,” he said.