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It remains to be seen whether the county’s objec- Indian Ocean port of Lamu, to move crude to
tions to LLCOP ultimately have the same impact market. If oil does not flow, he remarked, the
as the NGO campaign against EACOP. They government cannot distribute funds accord-
may not, if they do not end up drawing the same ing to the provisions of the 2019 Petroleum
level of international attention as the latter. (Exploration and Production) Act, which calls
for national, county and local governments
Land acquisition issues to receive 75%, 20% and 5% of all revenues
So far, the topic has mostly drawn interest from respectively.
Kenyan press agencies, which reported recently Munyes also described Turkana County as
that Josphat Nanok, the governor of Kenya’s Tur- the last remaining obstacle to land acquisition
kana County, and James Lomenen Ekomwa, a for LLCOP, noting that NLC had already com-
member of Kenya’s Parliament representing pleted this process in Lamu, Garissa, Meru, Isi-
Turkana South, had criticised the government’s olo and Sambu counties.
approach to acquiring land for LLCOP. “I wonder why local leaders are talking of
Nanok recently alleged that Kenya’s National delayed benefits, yet for the country to commer-
Land Commission (NLC) had begun acquiring cialise crude oil so that we get profit out of it, we
land on behalf of the State Department of Petro- must have land to lay a pipeline from Lokichar
leum and Mining in violation of the country’s to Lamu, which assures us of 80,000 barrels [per] Delaying
constitution and existing body of law. More day,” he said. (The pipeline’s projected capacity LLCOP could
specifically, he charged that NLC had impinged will be 80,000-100,000 barrels per day, or bpd.)
upon local authorities’ rights in the process of He also indicated that the midstream pro- stymie plans
laying the groundwork for LLCOP. ject would help determine whether oilfields in
“The county government is the custodian the South Lokichar basin ever produced at full for developing
of the community land and must be included capacity. The government is hoping that these
in such processes like compulsory land acqui- deposits eventually yield 150,000 bpd, he noted. oilfields in the
sition,” he was quoted as saying by the Nation South Lokichar
daily newspaper. Into the spotlight?
He urged Nairobi to consult more closely This matter is far from settled. Kenya’s govern- basin
with the county administration, saying that this ment has shown that it is keen to push LLCOP
approach would be more fruitful than hold- forward, and Turkana County authorities have
ing “small meetings” with few local officials in demonstrated that they are willing to continue
attendance. their fight against the project.
The governor also called on the government Thus far, though, the dispute between the
to hold some of its consultations on the pipeline two sides has not drawn much attention outside
outside the country’s major urban centres in East Africa. Western press agencies covering
order to accommodate local officials. He also LLCOP (itself a project with a lower profile than
called attention to Turkana County’s plan to EACOP) have made the occasional mention of
establish a land registrar, saying that this step disagreements over land acquisition in Kenya,
would allow the parties to discuss the matter but they have generally not gone into much
more transparently. detail. Likewise, Western NGOs such as Green-
Meanwhile, Lomenen has spoken up in peace, which was one of the signatories of the
favour of the county administration’s call for open letter that led some banks to reconsider
suspending land acquisition for the LLCOP ini- funding for EACOP, have not taken up Turkana
tiative. Local authorities need more time to set County’s cause.
up the land registrar, which will help ensure fair It remains to be seen whether the situation
compensation to disadvantaged populations, he changes – that is, whether the LLCOP land dis-
said. “[Before] the pipeline passes in our county, putes start attracting notice outside the region.
we must have title deeds for our land and given They may not, given that the Lokichar-Lamu
value for all trees along the way for compen- link has a lower profile and a lower price tag,
sation,” he was quoted as saying by the Nation $1.5bn, compared with $5bn for EACOP. But if
newspaper. they do – if, say, the project draws the attention
He continued: “Land in Turkana County of groups that lobby for indigenous communi-
can’t be taken without permission from leaders ties’ rights – Nairobi may end up contending
and locals, as it will remain our land. Our land with the court of public opinion as well as the
should only be leased for intended projects for a Turkana County government. ™
certain period and reverted to owners, or else we
will kill pastoralism in the affected areas.”

Nairobi’s response
Kenya’s government, meanwhile, has responded
by pointing out that delaying LLCOP will 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 Kenya needed LLCOP, which will
follow an 892-km route from Lokichar to the

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