Kenya’s long-standing welcome mat for Chinese investment is being trampled, and this time, the red flag is waving over strategic clean energy projects involving Mr. Li Jiafeng, which were meant to power the nation’s future, not fuel foreign land grabs.
Mr. Li Jiafeng of Jiatian (Kenya) Company Limited, a Chinese investor, has been accused of sabotaging the very partnership he entered into for the Nzoia II and Nzoia III Hydropower Projects, vital developments poised to boost Kenya’s national grid with sustainable energy.
Local stakeholders, who risked it all to de-risk the project, securing land, navigating thorny regulatory terrain, and winning over community trust, are now being sidelined.
Instead of delivering financing and moving the project forward, Mr. Li has allegedly chosen to stall it, defying technical directives from Kenya’s Water Resources Authority and, in a shocking twist, demanding ownership of the land on which the project sits.
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This land was painstakingly acquired by Kenyan partners to ensure the community’s long-term stake in the project. Mr. Li’s attempt to wrest it away is being viewed as nothing short of a hostile takeover — a calculated move to muscle out local players once the heavy lifting is done.
“This is daylight exploitation disguised as investment,” said a source familiar with the dispute. “You don’t come in after the risks are taken, the path cleared, and then try to own the project without honoring the spirit or the letter of the agreement.”
Worryingly, Mr. Li has also claimed involvement in other high-profile infrastructure projects, including the Mzima II PPP and dam developments, while flaunting alleged connections to powerful Chinese state-backed entities and high-level government officials. But increasingly, such affiliations raise red flags, as more Kenyan partners report being elbowed out after the groundwork is done — a dangerous precedent that threatens not only fair play but Kenya’s development sovereignty.
Kenya’s doors remain open to investment — but not to exploitation. As scrutiny of Chinese investment practices grows globally, Kenya cannot afford to remain silent when local contributions are trampled and strategic assets are quietly seized.
If such predatory tactics are allowed to continue, Kenya won’t just lose power projects — it could lose control over its developmental future.
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