The Sunday Nation - Oil Wealth

Since the announcement of significant oil deposits discovered in North Western Kenya, the press has waxed lyrical and sleepy journalists have rediscovered their skills as they analyse the repercussions of this announcement from a plethora of angles. This discovery has distracted the nation from the usual shenanigans and drama of the political class although of course I did not miss the allegation that a Minister, Permanent Secretary and others were unfairly involved - directly or indirectly - in the sale of Block 10BB - The block that holds some of the oil deposits for some USD 10M.  They had the wisdom and foresight...or was it being at the right place and the right time, to profit from the find? This reported misdemeanour has not deterred Kenyans of all persuasions, at this juncture, from debating the merits and demerits of the oil find and what it would mean for the nation state. As for me, I am amazed at the going prize of the land  and  (if wishes were horses) would have wished that by some stroke of luck, it had been mine. One can only muse about how much of the USD 10M has been reinvested into the economy in Turkana county and its environs before thinking about future profits can be made.


The inherent blessings discussed since the announcement was made are a myriad and are not limited to Middle Income Status, Global political powerhouse, New Job opportunities, Budget  Surpluses, Economic Growth and all manner of business opportunities including churches being built in Turkana county. The pessimists have cautioned and reminded us of some of the many vices plaguing other resource rich African nations which may be visited upon our beloved land namely further governance issues, runaway high level corruption, environmental degradation, self inflicted wars, violent  demands for secession and self determination, indolence of an otherwise hard working people, propping up of undemocratic regimes and a myriad of curses...God Forbid.  I would wager that sales of the most widely read papers in East Africa have shown a positive trend as Kenyans' interest in scholarly pursuits such as the future of their Nation state has been ignited by this discovery. I indeed have felt obliged to read most of the articles and rant about the find on the luxury of this blog.   I was particularly amused by a seemingly unrelated article in which the French ambassador complained about the inaccessibility of the Head of State. I initially thought that my Head of State might be resting from some untold of ailment (this type of musing on the Head of State's health was treasonable to imagine during regimes past and may have landed me in Kamiti Prison) but then remembered that there must be some jostling by world powers as a result of this innocuous find. Methinks that  Turkana county more specifically  (and by extension Kenya) would be better served by building schools, houses, hospitals, highways, airports, universities, cities, industries and allied markers of development  as a penance for years of neglect before jostling for investment opportunities. We might even explore how to water the desert so that the hard working people of Turkana county may continue in their cattle keeping hobby should they desire and their women explore other economic pursuits.

Might I be accused of being disingenuous in saying that I have a soft spot for Turkana County?  As a young girl my father gave me one of those tourist booklets on the El Molo. The El Molo being a tribe whose habitation lies somewhere on the shores of Lake Turkana....For their sake, I hope not too far from the oil deposits. A tribe that, I am certain, is not proportionally represented in the recently published diversity statistics of the Kenya civil service and I am sad to state that I personally do not count an acquaintance from Turkana County from all the people that I have had occasion to cross paths with in my otherwise varied life.  For some strange reason, my kid brother has spent some two years as a physician in Northern Kenya at the pleasure of the Ministry of Health and much to the chagrin of my mother.  Now that some prospects seem to have appeared in this backwater, we may have reason to celebrate. Perchance there might be some investments to consider in that county as I am sure that the people coming to exploit the newly found resources need some amenities for the long haul.

The native peoples who live around Turkana county are the most marginalised of Kenyan communities....by the design  of the economists who penned the infamous sessional paper no. 10 of 1965.  Apparently, the sessional Paper no. 10 of 1965 stated that to make the economy as a whole grow as fast as possible, development money should be invested where it would yield the largest increase in net output.  The bulk of the resources were to favour the development of areas having abundant natural resources, good land and rainfall, transport, power facilities and people receptive to and active in development  I have never had occasion to read the sessional paper but my interest has been roused by the oil find but for quite different reasons.

However, whilst I am tempted to demonise the economists who penned the sessional paper, I must recall that Jesus Christ in the parable of the talents indicated that those who have, would be given more and those didn't have, even the little that they had would be taken away from them. Our Lord might have been a carpenter but He prophesied on the economic theory that has marginalised Turkana county - and other unlucky people groups - since Kenya's independence. This theory is somewhat akin to the osmotic  theory where solvent molecules in the form of development resources move through the semi permeable membrane of the Nation State from low concentrated and less endowed regions to regions of high concentration and more endowment.   

Apparently one could only criticise the sessional paper No. 10 of 1965 to their peril and one so bold, albeit from the  safety of the Harvard corridors, was Barack Hussein Obama Sr. Being as he was from the low concentrated regions, of the Nyanza, he understood that this sessional paper would mean doom for some people groups and bliss for others. But no one cared to listen and as people judge his later life they should perhaps appreciate his disillusionment and the high prize he paid for not falling in line. This Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 is as incomprehensible as McNaughton's theories but has consistently been the basis upon which the nation was built and resources shared by subsequent regimes. It's no wonder that what grips the nation is the lack of diversity in the cake eating palaver. So before Michella Wrong muses on Kenyans oft quoted phrase "it is our turn to eat" she must at least analyse the travesties of the sessional paper no. 10 of 1965. I digress.

It is ironical that the oil has  "always" lay untapped (undrilled) in Turkana county and that somehow the economists who penned the much maligned sessional paper were not aware of it at the time. Had they had some foresight, perhaps, the capital would be located somewhere on the banks of the former Lake Rudolph  - initially named for crown prince Rudolph of Austria - as George W Bush would refer to it long after it had been changed to Lake Turkana. (I cannot recall why he felt compelled to refer to it but perhaps, being a Texan, it was the oil beckoning!). Now, I must pause to complain about the renaming of this lake in honour of Crown Prince Rudolph since I am sure it already had a good enough name(s) before the first Europeans recorded chancing upon it on one of their long wanderings through the East African wilderness. This lake is the world's largest permanent desert lake; the world's largest alkaline lake and the world's third-largest salt lake by volume.  Turkana county is home to violent winds and the government is belatedly investing in what is billed to become Africa's largest wind farm. 

Last but not least, it is also the cradle of mankind - perhaps even the Garden of Eden if evolution and creation were to converge.  The Leakeys who have a penchant for discovering skulls from eons past have discovered skulls in the area, unrivalled by those discovered next door in Olduvai Gorge....Makes me miss my history class!!  It boggles the mind that Turkana county and its environs was always an endowed area (only the economists were too blind to realise it).  Had the county received its  fair share of development resources it would be at par with the bastions of Central Kenya and the rest of the Rift Valley...But its not too late.

Since God in His wisdom has ordained that oil wealth suddenly be discovered  in the land of the Turkana and their immediate neighbours, all I can say is that there is karma and it is time for the native peoples of Turkana to eat.  Hopefully the rest of the tribes will allow them to eat in peace and when they have eaten their fill and are satiated, I pray that some crumbs shall fall off the tables, for the benefit of the rest of Kenya.