This archive report was first published on 1 November 2019.
Friday, November 1, 2019, marked a day of scrutiny for British oil explorer Tullow Oil as community-based groups in Turkana raised concerns over the company's under-investment in projects aimed at improving the lives of residents disrupted by the search for oil.
According to a report by DeSmog, a UK-based investigative journalism group, many of Tullow's corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the impoverished northern county have had low impact, with some worth less than half the amount claimed by the firm.
Amfry Amoni, head of local advocacy organisation Sustainable Approaches for Community Empowerment (Sapcone), accused Tullow of using the wrong approach in its CSR efforts. 'A lot of the money has been lost,' Mr Amoni said. 'Low community involvement and the wrong approach in reaching out to beneficiaries, and involvement of selfish local leaders has meant that Tullow corporate social responsibility has had very little impact on the lives of target communities.'
Tullow, however, maintains that it has made significant contributions to the community, including drilling more than 30 water boreholes that have benefited over 20,000 people and more than 50,000 herds of cattle, as well as providing bursaries to over 6,000 students and building three hospitals in partnership with the county government.
The Kenya Petroleum Act requires oil drilling companies to share revenues with the national government, with 25 percent of the share going to the county government and five percent to the local community on a yearly basis.
Friends of Lake Turkana, a community-based organisation, has questioned the role of private companies in development and the effectiveness of CSR efforts. 'Are we pushing the responsibility of development on a private company? What is the role of government?' asked Ikal Angelei, director of Friends of Lake Turkana.
