Lack of consultation blamed for friction in Turkana County

Low level of consultations between oil exploration firms and communities in Turkana County is to blame for recent friction between the two sides.

Odenda Lumumba from the Kenya Land Alliance further says local communities have not been briefed accordingly on the exploration activities and the impact it will have on their land and cultural lifestyle.

Kenya discovered commercially viable crude oil in Turkana County seven years ago and with it has attracted heightened interest in the country both by investors, locals and foreign actors.

However the local communities in Turkana have raised concerns that they are yet to feel the impact of oil despite billions of shillings being pumped in the development of the oil fields in Lokichar.

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Last year there were deadly confrontations between Tullow oil, the locals and security officers over plans to start the trucking of oil from the region to the Port of Mombasa for export.

Civil society organizations are warning that unless proper consultations are carried out the country is likely to witness unupsurge of conflicts in mineral rich regions.

Lumumba has urged all players in the sector to convene to address thorny issues like the land compensation, relocation of families along the proposed pipeline among other issues.

Tullow oil plans to invest 200 billion shillings to construct the pipeline from Lokichar to Lamu.

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