An Oil Pipeline Under a Catholic Campus: Kenya’s Court Says the Church Owns the Land but Cannot Remove It

• Kenya Pipeline Company’s line runs 343 metres under Catholic Church land in Eldoret
• The land hosts the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s Eldoret campus
• The court found the 2013 easement deal with the university invalid
• But the pipeline stays because it predated the church’s registration

Kenya’s Environment and Land Court in Eldoret has allowed Kenya Pipeline Company to keep an underground oil pipeline on land leased to the Catholic Church, even though the deal that allowed it was invalid, Kenyan Wall Street reported on April 21, 2026.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops holds the land, Eldoret Municipality Block 14/19, on a 99-year lease that began in 2008. It hosts the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. The pipeline runs through a corridor 3 metres wide and 343 metres long. In 2013 Kenya Pipeline signed an easement agreement with the university, paying KSh2.3 million, and installed the pipeline in 2014. The church received its certificate of lease in 2017 and sued in 2021.

The court found the easement unlawful because the university had no legal capacity to grant it. But Judge Emmanuel Washe ruled that “any pipelines that were placed before any parcel of land prior to its registration is deemed to be an overriding interest over the parcel of land even if such an easement has not been recorded in the register.” The church’s claims for trespass, eviction and removal were dismissed. Kenya Pipeline was ordered to complete an environmental impact assessment within 180 days.

The church won the point on ownership but lost control over a strip of its own land.

Jamaican churches that lease or own land used by schools, colleges or other partners should be careful about who signs agreements affecting that land. Only the registered owner can grant rights such as easements. Before registering or buying land, churches should also check for pipes, cables, drains and rights of way, since some may survive a change in ownership.

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