AfrOil: Another East African pipeline faces ESG challenges

Josphat Nanok, the governor of Kenya’s Turkana county, and James Lomenen Ekomwa, a member of Kenya’s Parliament representing Turkana South, have criticised the government’s approach to acquiring land for the Lokichar-Lamu Crude Oil Pipeline (LLCOP) project.

Nanok recently alleged that Kenya’s National Land Commission (NLC) had begun acquiring land on behalf of the State Department of Petroleum and Mining in violation of the country’s constitution and existing body of law. Meanwhile, Lomenen spoke up in favour of the county administration’s call for suspending land acquisition for LLCOP, saying that local authorities needed more time to set up the land registrar to ensure fair compensation to disadvantaged populations.

Kenya’s government has responded by pointing out that delaying LLCOP would stymie plans for the development of oil reserves in the South Lokichar basin. John Munyes, the cabinet secretary of the Ministry for Petroleum and Mining, recently stressed that if oil did not flow, Nairobi could not distribute funds according to the provisions of the 2019 Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, which calls for national, county and local governments to receive 75%, 20% and 5% of all revenues respectively.