President Uhuru Kenyatta summons leaders over conflict

By Michael Wesonga

Kenya: The suspension of Tullow Oil operations in Turkana caught the attention of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who summoned Turkana leaders to resolve the standoff.

And Monday, a team of senators head for Turkana in efforts to reconcile differences between Tullow and the host Turkana community.

Turkana South MP James Lomenen said the head of state called the meeting at State House in Nairobi to establish the reasons behind the conflict between Tullow Oil and the Turkana community.

Lomenen said he had a meeting with the president last Friday and another one with Tullow Oil President Keith C Hill over the matter.

President’s order

The MP told The Standard that at the meeting, President Kenyatta ordered the Turkana leadership and Tullow to resolve their concerns expeditiously through dialogue.

Also present at the meeting were Turkana Governor Josephat Nanok, Senator John Munyes, Turkana East and Central MPs Nicholas Ng’ikor and John Lodepe, and Energy and Internal Security cabinet secretaries Davis Chirchir and Joseph ole Lenku respectively.

Lomenen said throughout the talks, the president said he was personally concerned about the threats posed to international investments in the country.

While vouching for the investors, Kenyatta, however assured that he would see to it that the Turkana people were given priority in tender and employment opportunities offered by Tullow Oil.

He noted that youth and women groups had taken loans to purchase vehicles for hire to Tullow yet the company had overlooked locals who own vehicles and outsourced the services.

Lomenen said Tullow was also unable to provide full data of the people employed by sub-contracted companies, some of which had skewed representation.

“It was agreed that all jobs that can be handled by locals, such as cleaning, should be handled by them, whereas technical ones should be given to the rest of Kenyans and more skills-driven ones to expatriates,” he added.

He affirmed that the community had learned people who were capable of offering the services required by Tullow and other investors who want to cash in on the oil exploration.

Lomenen claimed that Tullow’s suspension of services was a gimmick to seek public and government sympathy as none of the lives of its staff had been threatened as claimed.

 The legislator complained that only four Turkanas were part of the 83-member management team, making it difficult for the company to understand the community’s challenges and dynamics.

 Senator Munyes said they also established that Turkanas have benefited from only three scholarships out of the 20 sponsored by the company since it began its operations three years ago.

“In fact, they notified the governor of the vacancy for the last scholarships only three days to the deadline. Is that really fair?” he questioned.

Munyes further complained that not even a single Turkana has been employed at Tullow Oil’s Nairobi office.

He said all the expatriates were foreigners, leading to a lack of transparency and disclosure. He proposed that the head office be moved to Turkana.

Meanwhile, the incitement case filed against MPs Lomenen and Ng’ikor was handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions for action even as the Turkana County Assembly last week directed the formation of a 15-member task force to probe the matter.

According to Lokichar Ward Representative Raphael Loperito, the task force is expected to summon not less than eight people, including the governor, MPs, provincial administration, host community and members of the district advisory committee.

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