Kenyan election – oil money and environmental issues in Turkana

East Africa

Published on Wednesday, 2 August 2017 Back to articles
Kenyan election – oil money and environmental issues in Turkana, South-Lokichar Basin Turkana
South-Lokichar Basin

Campaigning in Turkana County — as in the rest of the country — has intensified as election day on 8 August approaches. Given the ‘winner takes all’ characteristics of the race, debates on the topic of the oil industry have not moved much beyond the issue of revenue sharing. Unsurprisingly, it was a headline item in Raila Odinga’s — the opposition National Super Alliance’s (NASA) primary candidate — stump speech in Lokichar. Odinga was touring Turkana with his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, and two other NASA principals, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula. Despite Governor Josephat Nanok’s — the NASA incumbent — clear lead in the polls, the implications for the County’s nascent oil industry are still not clear.

Speaking in Lokichar — which has been important because of Tullow Oil’s discovery of oil in 2012 — Nanok promised to sign the Petroleum Bill 2016 into law with the original revenue sharing ratios of 20% to the County, and 10% to the community, with the cumulative 30% to be channelled through the County’s Administration.

The promise was to be expected. What the campaign rallies are showing is the Turkana peoples’ wide range of issues, which include: food shortages; water supply for both humans and livestock; and environmental issues. All will be affected by the development of the oil industry but — in an environment where the experience of the joint venture companies is limited — there is room for concern.

Oil companies and sub-contractors in the County will probably see greater local political impacts from activities that have a clear impact on the environment in general, and water supply in particular. In recent years — as in Uganda — hazardous waste management has been a flashpoint with local communities and activists, because it is not always under the control of the joint venture companies.

It is likely, given his poll lead, that Governor Nanok will be the one leading on these issues after August. Yet his behaviour towards the oil industry will depend on … [article continues]

This is an excerpt from an article in our weekly East Africa Politics & Security publication.

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