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Infrastructure has historically been both a tool and a reflection of state power, and current development agendas across the African continent are contributing to reposition the state as driver of development. Simultaneously, diverging agendas amongst state and parastate actors, as well as the involvement of private or foreign actors produce a complex and layered political reality. Increasing involvement of Chinese actors in infrastructure projects calls for further investigation of the impact Chinese participation has on relations amongst state and non-state actors in African nations. Using the case study of Lamu port project in Northern Kenya, financed by the Kenyan government but constructed by a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise, this article focuses on the controversies involving the national government and Lamu county government. This paper highlights how the presence of Chinese actors has both reproduced pre-existing geographies of power, but also contributed to the emergence of new power-geometries.