UK Tullow’s drilling plans in Kerio Valley face hostility

What you need to know:

Tullow has identified a 7,000-kilometre square parcel dubbed Block 12A in the Kerio Valley belt running across Elgeyo-Marakwet and Baringo counties for oil exploration.
Oil drilling is set to commence in January 2015 after conclusion of seismic surveys conducted in February, but concerns over unsurveyed land is raising anxiety among residents.

The planned drilling by Tullow Oil in Kerio Valley appears to have run into headwinds as residents threatened to block the project, claiming they had not been involved in negotiations.

This is the second time Tullow is running into similar trouble after last year’s standoff in Turkana that disrupted activities for days over employment and contracts demand for locals.

READ: Oil exploration in Turkana resumes as workers end strike

The UK-based firm has identified a 7,000-kilometre square parcel dubbed Block 12A in the Kerio Valley belt running across Elgeyo-Marakwet and Baringo counties for oil exploration.

Oil drilling is set to commence in January 2015 after conclusion of seismic surveys conducted in February, but concerns over unsurveyed land is raising anxiety among residents.

READ: Search for oil deposits starts in Kerio Valley

Addressing a press conference in Eldoret Tuesday, residents told Tullow to follow the law by involving them. But Tullow said it had held talks last week with residents’ representatives over the matter.

Fear

The residents led by Kerio Valley community secretary Justine Kurui demanded the government issues residents with land ownership documents. Mr Kurui said residents have lived without title deeds for years.

“Our people fear they will not benefit much from the project as land in the area is still owned communally.

“The government should act with speed and ensure people from this region get land ownership title deeds so that come compensation time, each one of them benefits,” said Mr Kurui.

He dismissed Tullow claims that 60 per cent of the more than 3,000 people it employs are from local communities, saying these were largely casual labourers, watchmen and cooks.

“The community of Kerio Valley demands that Tullow Oil makes available the list of its staff working at their head office for auditing in order to establish whether it is compliant with the National Cohesion and Integration Act.”

The oil company has, however, assured the residents in the area that they would not lose their land.

Speaking at the weekend during a media briefing on the state of the project in Eldoret, Tullow Kenya social performance manager Robbert Gerrits and environmental manager Alex Mutiso said that access to land would only be required on a temporary basis.