At the hearing on 14 October 2026 Justice Jane Onyango of the Malindi court declined to extend the status quo order or grant any interim order, because the residents had not served Dangote and the state agencies, so the order lapsed; Kenya Law has not published the ruling, so The Standard and Kenyans.co.ke reports of 14 October settle it.
History. 7 of 8 cases. Only in India was the order lifted before day 19, by the Supreme Court.
Hunch. The Lamu order is softer than most past ones, since the judge did not treat it as urgent, let the opening go ahead and covered only the parts people live on, and President Ruto says the land is secured.
Resolves on Kenya Law (new.kenyalaw.org, Environment and Land Court at Malindi), checked on 22 October 2026 at 10:00 UK time, with The Star, Pulse Kenya and People Daily as backup for finding the ruling: YES if between 14 and 21 October 2026 the court extends its order to leave LR No. 13061 as it is, to a ruling date or longer, or grants a temporary order until the case is decided. NO if it lifts the order, lets it lapse or dismisses the application. If no result of the hearing is published anywhere by 21 October, the market is void.
We looked for cases where people living on the land for a big project backed by their government went to court, asked for their land rights to be settled before work began, and got a court order to leave the land as it was until a hearing. We found eight, from 2001 to 2024. In seven, the order was still in place 19 days after it was made, the same gap as between the Lamu order and the 14 October hearing. Only two of the eight are from Kenya, and four are from Mexico.