"Oil benefits yet to trickle to the locals in Turkana" 28 July 2014

…[A] community of about 2,000 people is now crammed in an area of less than 250 metres radius, fenced off by barbed wire and thorns after giving up their ancestral land for oil prospecting. A graveled road leads to Ngamia-1 drilling site owned by Tullow Oil Plc but ends just as you enter Nakukulus village…According to village elder Joseph Loposi, only six people from the village have been employed in the oil industry as casual labourers and earn a paltry Sh3,000 per month. He says the company had also promised to build them houses and provide bursaries for school-going children — which have not materialised…Just last week, there was pandemonium at one of Tullow sub-contracted companies…after workers went on the rampage. The Ardan Company workers, from Turkana Community, were protesting against unfair practices in the oil fields. But Tullow says it has met most of its obligations to the community. “Our unprecedented exploration success in Kenya in the South Lokichar Basin has been accompanied by substantial social investment that has had a positive impact for communities across the county,” says Rob Gerrits, Tullow Kenya social performance manager.