In the unfolding story of Kenya’s infrastructure ambitions, there exists a name that continues to cast a long and sinister shadow—Mr. Li Jiafeng, a man whose track record reads like a checklist of everything wrong with unchecked power, foreign exploitation, and the sale of public interest for private gain.
At first glance, Mr. Li might appear to be just another businessman looking to invest in Kenya’s future. But scratch beneath the surface, and a disturbing pattern emerges, one marked by land grabs, destroyed livelihoods, court manipulation, and billion-shilling profiteering.
Let’s start with the land. Mr. Li, through Jiatian (Kenya) Company Limited, is attempting to unlawfully take over land earmarked for the Nzoia II and III hydropower projects, critical national infrastructure meant to benefit thousands of Kenyans with sustainable energy. Instead, this land now risks falling into the hands of a man who has demonstrated time and again that he puts personal profit far ahead of public good.
He is doing everything to frustrate the project, pushing our local partners and bribing authorities to have full ownership of land that belongs to Kenyans.
His troubling history doesn’t end there. As a consultant for Chinese state-owned AVIC International on the Karimenu Dam Project, Mr. Li oversaw blasting operations so violent that they destroyed homes and killed livestock belonging to innocent locals.
Imagine waking up one day to find your homestead reduced to rubble, your animals dead, and your life’s work gone—all without warning, without compensation, without justice.
The victims, desperate for accountability, turned to the courts in Wamugunda Kimani & 10 Others v. Athi Water Works Development Agency & AVIC International (ELC E147/2021, Thika). And what has Mr. Li done since? He’s been accused of actively undermining the judicial process, a slap in the face to every Kenyan who still believes in the rule of law. Despite the lives upended and the destruction caused, Mr. Li reportedly walked away with billions in personal gain.
Now, the same man is positioning himself as the driving force behind the highly controversial Ksh 50 billion Mzima II water project, a privately initiated public-private partnership involving Chinese state-owned Sichuan Road and Bridge Group. The project has already raised eyebrows for its lack of transparency, inflated costs, and potential to saddle vulnerable coastal communities with sky-high water tariffs for generations.
It’s a déjà vu moment—Mzima II bears all the hallmarks of the cancelled Adani infrastructure deals, which were globally discredited for their shady valuations and misuse of public resources. The same playbook is being followed in Kenya, and unless we act, ordinary citizens will foot the bill for another rigged game orchestrated behind closed doors.
So the questions must be asked, loudly and unapologetically:
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How does a man with such a trail of destruction and controversy continue to broker billion-shilling deals on Kenyan soil?
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Why do Chinese state-backed companies keep rewarding him with mega-contracts?
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Who benefits from these deals—Kenyan citizens or a small, powerful clique that thrives on opacity?
- Why does the Chinese Embassy allow Mr. Li Jiafeng to continue to operate with such impunity?
Kenyans deserve infrastructure that uplifts, not exploits. We deserve partners, not profiteers. And we deserve a government that protects its people, not one that rubber-stamps deals that compromise our sovereignty and our future.
Mr. Li Jiafeng represents everything that must change in our infrastructure narrative. He is not a visionary. He is a symbol of unchecked greed wrapped in a developer’s suit—and it’s time we said: Enough.
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