To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success.

Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-centre and cold-chain transport firms in the region.

But to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion.

A parade of governors have, according to the city's owners, demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange for building permits.

A few years ago, a governor "drove around with us, just pointing at different plots of land, saying 'I want that, I want that'," said Preston Mendenhall, Kenya country head for Rendeavour, the company building the city.

The American responded with a tactic rarely attempted in Kenya: going public.

More than once, Mendenhall has held press conferences detailing the alleged extortion attempts of local politicians.

"They thought that we, as foreign investors, would leave the country," he said.

"(But) we're looking at a 50-year time horizon. For us to challenge........

© International Business Times