Protesters threaten Kenya oil drilling

Kenya Oil Drilling

After NG recently reported the collaboration between the Kenyan and Chinese governments in an effort to unlock the African nation's oil potential, new evidence suggests the exploration of oil in the Isiolo District may not go as expected, following protests by the local people.

Non-government groups have been successful in disrupting previous attempts to tap crude in Kenya, and there were serious fears that the same could happen to the new projects. Now it looks like these initial fears were justified. Merti residents marched to the exploration site last Wednesday, accusing the government and the Chinese oil company, CNOOC, of not involving them in the exercise.

It is hoped the huge drilling projects will make Kenya one of the world's oil rich nations, helping to diversify its economy away from just tourism.

Bovernment informed of the protests

Energy minister, Kiraitu Murungi, launched the search for the oil through satellite because the government was informed of the protests in advance, which prompted the launch to be announced via satellite in Nairobi and not on site.

Many people, including civil rights activist Daudi Tari, insisted that if the project was to go ahead CNOOC should give jobs to the locals and address environmental concerns resulting from the exercise. "When the Chinese company come to our land to look for oil, they did not involve us in the process and our people have to be paid well for the environmental degradation caused by digging," Mr Tari said.

Government has ownership rights of all minerals

The bad news for environmentalists and local residents is that, under mining laws in Kenya, the government has ownership rights of all minerals and empowers it to undertake forceful eviction of those who might be unwilling to move in areas where economically viable quantities of minerals are found.

Protestors are furious that the local people have not been considered for some of the jobs, an accusation CNOOC's public relations officer, Mr Robert Karume, denied saying all casual workers were picked from the area.

But government and company officials have assured residents that if oil is found in abundance in the area, everybody stands to gain.

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: