Jobs row rocks Tullow Oil as residents allege bias - UPDATE

What you need to know:

  • The Lokichar residents are accusing community liaison officers, chosen to represent them of giving preference to members of their clans whenever job opportunities arose
  • Tullow’s senior communications advisor, Ms Mercy Kabangi, laughed off the allegations as “politics.”

A fresh row has erupted over jobs at Tullow Oil, with residents of Lokichar in the Turkana Basin claiming some of the oil company’s appointments favoured certain groups.

The Lokichar residents are accusing community liaison officers, chosen to represent them of giving preference to members of their clans whenever job opportunities arose.

They further claimed that “outsiders” were forced to pay to be considered for the jobs at the Turkana-based oil prospector.

“Those with money are being absorbed easily, but the rights of the poor who have skills are not factored,” said Ms Elizabeth Emuria, a vegetable vendor at Lokichar.

“We have educated our children but they will remain jobless just because they come from poor backgrounds or do not know anyone at the company,” she said. Last year, the company temporarily halted its operations after a heated protests over jobs.

However, Tullow Oil, in a response to this article, clarified that community liaison officers "have no influence in the company's hiring process but act as key representatives for community and local government engagement activities; they manage and coordinate the day to day execution of community based activities according to business requirements and applicable policies and guidelines".

Tullow also stated that all opportunities are advertised publicly prior to commencing recruitment. The company "specifically focuses on advertising these opportunities within Turkana through local media platforms, our community offices, as well as through word of mouth at existing social venues".

Employee data from February 2014 provided by Tullow showed the percentage of Kenyans in the company's workforce at management level was 31 per cent, 81 per cent at skilled level, 99 per cent at semi-skilled level and 100 per cent at unskilled level.

The data showed that there are a total of 1,698 locals employed by Tullow: 2 at management level, 289 at skilled level, 598 at semi-skilled level and 809 at unskilled level. The percentage of locals in the entire workforce was given as 60 per cent.

In response to allegations that “outsiders” were forced to pay to be considered for jobs, Tullow stated that the company operates "in a transparent and inclusive manner that is aimed at creating shared prosperity; our corporate governance advocates zero tolerance of bribery and corruption, and we expect all contractors to abide by the same standards.

"The oil and gas policy standards that we integrate in our operations are a supplement for local laws and legislation. We continuously engage with our partners in the public sector to identify areas of shared interest, mitigate challenges, and review our progress to ensure that the pace, scope and management of our operations are aligned with key government and county objectives and rolled out to benefit the country as a whole."

EDITOR'S NOTE - This article has been amended to include a response from Tullow Oil