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Tycoon Munga, China firm row over Sh4trn coal mines

Monday, November 17, 2025 - 7 min read

Businessman Peter Munga. Ms Njambi also filed an application challenging the planned auction, contending that the bank had proceeded with full knowledge of her beneficial interest in ownership.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

By Brian Wasuna

Business Reporter

Nation Media Group

A company associated with tycoons Peter Munga and George Kariithi is locked in a vicious dispute with Chinese investors over ownership of coal mines in Kitui, with deposits estimated to be worth more than Sh3.9 trillion.

China’s Fenxi Mining Industry Co. Ltd has threatened to file arbitration proceedings against Kenya, alleging that the government has, for over a decade, unlawfully allowed Mr Munga and Dr Kariithi to frustrate its 21-year Mui Basin concession.

“Therefore, Fenxi Mining Industry Co. Ltd is the rightful party to implement the concession and has the exclusive right to carry out the works under the concession unless it elects to assign the rights to the Kenyan subsidiary, which assignment should be approved by the Cabinet Secretary as provided under section 51 of the Mining Act, 2016.”
Under the benefit-sharing agreement, the concessionaire was to invest a minimum of $2.622 million (Sh399 million) in implementing the first phase of works.
In the second phase, which involves extraction, the concessionaire was to invest a minimum of $189 million (Sh24.4 billion).
In the event that the concessionaire would extract more coal than required in an agreed period of time, then it was free to seek the government’s consent to export the excess fuel.

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Tycoon Munga, China firm row over Sh4trn coal mines

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