The Denyenye villagers in Kenya’s coastal region allege that LafargeHolcim, and the local Bamburi Cement company have had no legal rights over the 1,500 acres of land that they guard so fiercely and plan to mine. Dozens of young men and women have been injured in the area. They say that some of their attackers are security guards with the American-owned company G4S, working alongside Kenya’s much-feared paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU). Some of the complainants say they were raped by officers of the GSU.

Business and Human Rights Resource Centre invited Holcim and G4S to respond to the allegations. Holcim stated that they conducted an investigation found that these were past allegations against the Kenyan Authorities (GSU) and a Bamburi service provider (G4S), and the company has found no evidence of wrongdoing after conducting reviews and enquiries. There have been two recorded incidents, which were thoroughly investigated: one was reported to and dealt with by local police; for the other, no allegations could be substantiated.

G4S stated that based on the evidence provided to date, the company has not been able to substantiate these allegations of misconduct.