MPs ignore Uhuru to back Turkana 10pc oil cash plan
Turkana Governor Josephat Nanok, Tullow Kenya country manager Martin Mbogo and former British High Commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner during a tour of the exploration site in Turkana. FILE PHOTO | NMG
This flies in the face of President Uhuru Kenyatta who rejected the Bill that proposed a 10 per cent share and directed Parliament to reduce it to five per cent.
Turkana County will reap big from the proceeds of its oil discoveries after a parliamentary team endorsed the retention of 10 per cent of the total government share to benefit locals.
The Energy Committee has proposed amendments to a contentious clause in the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Bill, 2017 to raise the sharing of petroleum resources to local communities from five to 10 per cent of the government share.
The proposal flies in the face of President Uhuru Kenyatta who rejected the Bill that proposed a 10 per cent share and directed Parliament to reduce it to five per cent.
It is a win for Turkana MPs who have been on a warpath with the President demanding the revision of the bill to give host communities more revenue allocation.
“Delete sub clause 3 of Section 85 and substitute therefor with the following clause-The local community’s share shall be equivalent to ten (10) per cent of the Government’s share and shall be payable to a trust fund managed by a board of trustees established by the county government in consultation with local community,” the committee chaired by Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria said in a report.
Should MPs ratify the committee proposal, county governments will retain 20 per cent and the national government take the balance of 70 per cent.
“The current provision undermines the objects of devolution under Article 174 of the Constitution on the right to recognise communities managing their own affairs and ensuring equitable sharing of national and local resources in Kenya,” the committee argued in the report on consideration of the Bill.
