Can Turkana’s oil deliver region?

The allure of a good life waiting just 50 kilometres from home was simply irresistible. And he had no doubts about it. A few months earlier, his cousin had secured a job as a security guard with a company contracted by British oil firm Tullow at one of the oil rigs at Lokichar.

And so John Lomul left home in Kaptili with only the clothes he was wearing. Soon he would get the money to buy everything he needed, just like his cousin, who lived the good life––at least by Lomul’s standards.

Today he sits on the edge of the verandah outside Mashallah Hotel. His once white-brown T-shirt is brown with dust and sweat. His feet in battered pair of plastic sandals are sunk deep into the sand.

He is yet to find a job.

“I’m still waiting. Competition is stiff. There are many young men chasing the few jobs available. Whenever I’m lucky, I get a casual job at a construction site. I’m sick of this town. As soon as I save enough money to a buy a few goats, I’m going back home. I just can’t go back empty-handed,” he declares.

Down the street is shopkeeper Samuel Samal. He is relatively better off than Lomul, but from his experiences in the last year, he is treading on quicksand. His fortunes could change drastically at the snap of a finger.

Last year, local politicians led demonstrations against the oil company which, fearing for the safety of its staff, shut down operations. The effect for the community was immediate.

“The locals suddenly had no money to spend. Food supply and other provisions to the camps ground to a halt. Guest houses were suddenly empty. It was a bad time. You can never be sure about tomorrow,” he says.

In this cocktail of mixed hopes, fortunes and uncertainties, is the reality of insecurity, fuelled by the existence of illegal firearms sustained by an underground market for guns and ammunition.

Oil exploration is not for the light of pocket. For instance, Tullow’s budget for 2014 stands at Sh55 billion. The company is operating four oil rigs in Lokichar basin. Each well costs approximately Sh2.5 billion, and striking oil is never guaranteed.

Once the forgotten frontier, known only for perennial droughts and cattle rustling, in Lokichar and beyond everything changed when Tullow announced the discovery of commercially viable oil deposits, triggering a complex scenario of exaggerated expectations against a background of years of neglect, insecurity and marginalisation. 

Signs of trouble appeared in October last year when residents led by local MPs stormed oil drilling camps to protest what they considered discrimination against locals in terms of job and business opportunities.

Turkana South MP James Lomenen and his Turkana East counterpart Nicholas Ngikor complained that locals were not getting jobs while tenders for transport and other services were going to Nairobi-based firms.

FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT

Turkana Governor Joseph Nanok maintains that Tullow and other investors should be allowed to continue operations without pressure.

“My government does not support any action that negatively affects investment,” he is quoted as saying.

The discovery of oil has seen an unprecedented migration to the town by young people hoping to find jobs at the oil rigs. That such jobs are not forthcoming has continued to pile pressure on the oil firm, which is expected to sponsor development projects.

Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo attributes the challenging relationship between the company and the local community to an extremely fragile socio-economic environment with a history of neglect and almost zero development spanning close to 50 years.

“Tullow is working in conjunction with the community and the county government to identify priorities based on communal needs,” Mr Mbogo says.

He reveals that in 2013, Tullow invested Sh233 million in social projects and has almost doubled that budget for 2014. Targeted priority areas include water, education, health, environment and alternative livelihood. Fifty primary and secondary schools, for example, have been provided with teaching materials in an efforts to build capacity in the local school system.

“Through the Tullow Group Scholarship Scheme we have sponsored seven local students to undertake studies in oil and gas courses,” says Mr Mbogo.

He adds that Tullow’s budget for 2014 will go towards integrated health, environment and alternative livelihoods to ensure that we continue to build healthy and resilient communities that will outlast the lifetime of the resource.

Mr Mbogo points out that legacy issues cannot be tackled by a single investor. “Collective effort involving investors, governments and other development agencies is required to address the dire socio-economic situation in Turkana,” says Mr Mbogo.

Tullow currently employs 2,800 people in their operations in three blocks, both skilled and unskilled, drawing 100 per cent of the unskilled labour force from Turkana County, and 85 per cent in the semi-skilled category.

In 2013, the company spent Sh4.1 billion on local companies supplying goods and services, Sh224 million going directly to Turkana-based companies.

Once considered a backwater known only for perennial drought and violent cattle rustling, Turkana could easily become the most wealthy county in the country. This in the context of a complex scenario of exaggerated expectations against a background of years of neglect, insecurity and marginalisation. 

According to an aid worker, there appears to be an expectation among politicians and the local community that Tullow should replace both the national and local government in the provision of basic services.

“Nobody seems to appreciate that this a business that pays levies to both the national and local governments, and anything else is social responsibility,” said the aid worker who chose to remain anonymous.

SECURITY CRITICAL

The state of security in Turkana is critical for the industry. In an area where you can buy a bullet for the price of a bottle of Tusker, and where demand matches supply, conflict can be triggered at the slightest provocation.

The situation is aggravated by the near absence of a government presence, with the exception of police reservists, which only provide a loophole for the illegal weapons trade to thrive.

Even more worrying are raids against the Turkana by bandits from neighbouring areas. Impoverished by the raids, many residents are moving to Lokichar where they hope to get jobs. While this might be viewed as a prudent move, it increases the threat of insecurity owing to the increasing number of jobless, desperate youth.

Further aggravating the security situation is the sorry state of the roads. The tarmac that once connected Kitale and Lodwar was washed away by the El-Nino rains in 1997. What remains is a combination of gullies and mini craters. To drive the 200 km from Lokichar takes the whole day.

Besides making transport difficult, it also makes police responses to security situations nearly impossible.