NAIROBI, Kenya- Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has threatened to mobilise Turkana residents to stop oil drilling in the county unless local communities benefit from the resource.
Speaking during a church service at St Stephen’s Anglican Church in Dracut, Massachusetts, on Sunday, October 11, Gachagua accused Gulf Energy of taking Turkana’s oil while residents were left with little to show for it.
“God gave Turkana oil to transform their lives,” he said, warning that drilling should stop until residents benefit.
He did not outline how a shutdown would be organised or specify what share of the oil proceeds he believes should go directly to local people.
The remarks came during his ongoing United States tour, where he has been meeting Kenyans in the diaspora.
The South Lokichar oil discovery dates back to 2012, when Tullow Oil’s Ngamia-1 well confirmed commercially viable oil in Turkana.
Development plans were delayed for years, and Tullow eventually sold its entire working interest in Kenya to Auron Energy E&P, an affiliate of Gulf Energy, in 2025.
Gulf Energy is now advancing the South Lokichar project.
The government has said the first export-ready crude could be available in December 2026.
The initial development phase is expected to produce about 20,000 barrels a day, with a later phase targeting 50,000 barrels a day, according to the State Department for Petroleum.
The prospect of production has revived questions over who will benefit from the oil and how revenues will reach host communities.
Under the Petroleum Act, 2019, the national government’s share of petroleum profits is divided, with 75 per cent going to the national government, 20 per cent to the county government and 5 per cent to the local community.
That formula sets out how revenue should be shared, but residents have continued to demand clear arrangements and accountability before production begins.
The concerns include compensation for land and property affected by oil operations, local employment and the delivery of infrastructure and services.
Turkana County has also opened discussions with Gulf Energy on fiscal terms for exploration and production in the basin.
Gachagua’s threat puts those demands at the centre of a political challenge to the project just as the country prepares to resume commercial oil production.
His claim that residents are getting nothing contrasts with the statutory revenue-sharing formula and government assurances that oil development will create jobs and support the region.
Whether those benefits reach communities on the ground is likely to remain a point of scrutiny as production approaches.
