Nairobi, June 17 -- Lebanese contractor Zakhem International Construction Limited has moved to court seeking more than Sh10.9 billion from Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), citing delays in the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi petroleum pipeline.

The project, announced in 2013 and launched in 2015, was initially scheduled for completion within 18 months but took 21 months.

Zakhem argues that although the contract period was extended several times because of implementation delays, the project rates and quality requirements remained unchanged.

The contractor attributes the delays to KPC's alleged failure to comply with National Construction Authority (NCA) requirements, delayed approvals and procurement of major plant and equipment, late ...