Kenya needs proper laws to govern oil and gas sector

• As international companies race to take up blocks in Kenya and eastern African nations of Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique, there are some mundane issues that are being pushed under the carpet or simply ignored in the rush.
• So far, these nations, including Kenya, lack proper government regulations and the exploration is done in the hope that once they strike anything, the laws would follow. Now that is not how to do things.
• Our Constitution states clearly that all agreements relating to natural resources should be subject to ratification by Parliament and we need to see the involvement of the august House in future decisions regarding exploration in this country.
• While this new law does not apply to the agreements signed before the effective date of the Constitution we need a new level of transparency on the company or companies that are engaged in the hunt for natural resources in the country.
• Kenya should not walk the path taken by countries such as Nigeria where its oil wealth turned to be a curse because it lacked proper laws to govern the new industry.
• That means that Kenya should fast track the crafting of law that will govern the gas and oil fields while also revising the mineral exploration and exploration laws.

A lot of drilling – both onshore and offshore – has been taking place in Kenya as interest in both oil and gas exploration surges.

As international companies race to take up blocks in Kenya and eastern African nations of Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique, there are some mundane issues that are being pushed under the carpet or simply ignored in the rush.

So far, these nations, including Kenya, lack proper government regulations and the exploration is done in the hope that once they strike anything, the laws would follow. Now that is not how to do things.

Our Constitution states clearly that all agreements relating to natural resources should be subject to ratification by Parliament and we need to see the involvement of the august House in future decisions regarding exploration in this country.

While this new law does not apply to the agreements signed before the effective date of the Constitution we need a new level of transparency on the company or companies that are engaged in the hunt for natural resources in the country.

Kenya should not walk the path taken by countries such as Nigeria where its oil wealth turned to be a curse because it lacked proper laws to govern the new industry.

We should not forget that the state has an obligation to ensure sustainable exploitation of natural resources and for clean and healthy environment. But how will this be achieved; even at the exploration stage, if we are using archaic laws.

That means that Kenya should fast track the crafting of law that will govern the gas and oil fields while also revising the mineral exploration and exploration laws.

We say these because there was the recent case of a prospecting company that was forced to stop drilling after encountering gas because they did not have proper license for that.

Nations that have managed to tap the wealth of natural gas have also put in place legal regimes that address the well-being of communities since such extraction poses both health and safety problems. This can include the poisoning of underground wells and other environmental nightmares. We all recall the US case in the Gulf