This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
On September 26, 2019, local public interest groups in Kenya faulted the Government for prioritizing foreign firms over national and community interests in the mineral, oil, and gas sectors.
The five lobbies, led by the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (KCSPOG), accused the State of having the wrong priorities for the extractives industry.
"In the process, the host communities are not fully benefiting in terms of being adequately compensated even as their social, cultural, and environmental rights are not properly secured," said KCSPOG Chief Executive Charles Wanguhu.
He noted that even though the law provides for fair benefit sharing, there are no stable structures in place to facilitate the process, to the detriment of local communities and the nation.
Viola Tarus, an extractives expert from Oxfam Kenya, said the Government is letting down its citizens on agreements that confer private and foreign players certain critical advantages, including revenue benefits.
"The State is not doing enough at benefit sharing in terms of revenue sharing, community development agreements as well as local content," she said.
Ms. Tarus called on the State to implement new benefits sharing models to prevent the interests of local communities and the nation from slipping away under its watch.
She also noted that even the State could benefit from the new petroleum law and the accompanying model petroleum sharing contract (PSC), which increased cost recovery audits to at least eight from the previous two years.
However, Tarus said the Government would not achieve this if oversight institutions are not strengthened and mining agreements as well as audit reports made public.
