Turkana,The Black Golden Jackpot Winner

If you’ve been keen for the past couple of days, then I’m sure the Oil recently discovered in the Northern parts of Turkana County tops your list of the social buzz. With Kenyans dispersed across the globe, effortlessly seeking for new opportunities and greener pastures, it won’t come as a surprise to see everyone tying to have a piece of the “magical black forest cake” whose worth is said to be USD $250 billion.

 

For those unclear about Turkana County whose lake is 490 Km from Nairobi, here are a couple of points to jot down;   {

Category: Counties in Kenya

Population: 855,399

Constituencies: Turkana North, Turkana West, Turkana Central, Loima, Turkana South, Turkana East.

Area (Km 2):s: 68,680.3 Km2

Major Towns: Lodwar (Capital town), Lokitaung

Main Features: Lake Turkana, Turkwell dam

Description: Turkana County is in the rift valley Province of Kenya. The county is situated at North-western part of Kenya. The neighbouring counties include Marsabit County to the East, Samburu County to the South-east, Baringo and West Pokot Counties to the South-west. Turkana County also borders with Uganda to the West, Sudan to the North and Ethiopia to the North-east.

The dominant community in the county is the Turkana people. There are several other pastoral communities that have settled there in the course of time. The northern parts of Kenya, especially where Turkana County is situated, experience very little amounts of rainfall (300mm- 400mm) and dry arid lands. Lodwar being the largest town in North-western Kenya and the capital of Turkana County has got a substantial share of tourism in Kenya. Lodwar’s industry is mainly basket weaving and fish trade along the shores of Lake Turkana.Lodwar is also famous because it is the town where the first President of Kenya was detained during the pre-independence days of the country.

Economic Activities:

• Tourism
• Fishing
• Livestock rearing
• Recent News Of Oil Find

Banks in Turkana County: Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank and Post Bank

Universities/Colleges in Turkana County:

• Elix Centre of Informatics, Lokichar-Turkana

 Projects:Wind power project and the passing of a major power transmission line from the Ethiopian Hydro-electric power station projects. There is also research and exploration for oil deposits going on to determine further actions of oil drilling Turkwell dam project had been aborted has been revived in recent past. The dam, upon completion, is meant to improve the power supply to the whole of Kenya and neighboring countries.

Challenges:The area of Turkana County is hot and dry for most part of the year. Rainfall can be less than 150mm in the central arid parts of the county. There area is prone to famine and cattle rustling due to the constant migration by pastoralists from different parts of the county and neighbouring counties in search of pastures for their livestock.

Transport:The county is accessible by a road network. Lodwar is now interconnected with Kitale and the Central Highlands by a tarmac road.}

(Source of location info; http://www.guide2kenya.com/information/104/Turkana-County)

Continued…….

It has been stated that the government expects more of the waxy Oil, once they reach drilling depths of around 2700 meters, 1659 meters more than the current depth by a very joyful Kiraitu Murungi, Energy Minister, who went on to say “The well encountered in excess of 20 meters of net oil. Movable oil with an API greater than 30 degrees has been recovered to the surface,” (The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks.)

President Mwai Kibaki was the first to let the cat out of the bag on 26^th March 2012 as he quoted “I have been informed by the Minister for Energy that our country has made a major breakthrough in our Oil exploration. This is the first time that Kenya has made such a discovery and it is good news for our country,”

The wondrous discovery came only two months after the drilling started and this was a portfolio booster for Tullow Oil Plc contractors, the Oil discoverers, considering many other Oil companies usually end up disappointed and heart as well as wallet broken. They are set to undertake the Oil drilling hunt for the next three years or so. Tim O’Hanlon, Tullow’s vice president said he was optimistic that they will duplicate this success in Uganda that is said to host about 2 billion barrels of Oil. The company currently has seven licensed blocks in Northern and Western Kenya. It operates in liaison with Africa Oil.

The Energy minister went on to say that research is still underway to see whether the “black gold” can be commercialized and if so what quantities are available. The government is encouraging other interested Oil firms to come forward and start Oil drilling prospects by giving out more blocs of the land.

Considering last year’s budget that amounted to Kes977 billion, the recent oil discovery will provide a much-needed breathing space for the citizens of a country that’s among the highest taxed in the world. It will help to significantly boost the GDP (Gross Domestic product) of Kenya. (The GDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period)

It’s been however questioned how and why a Cabinet minister, through his law firm sold a block in Turkana in excess of 800 million shillings though I believe the question that we should be asking is, “Will the Oil discovery help the struggling residents of Turkana who still haven’t yet discovered water and who feel they have been isolated from the rest of the country for so many years till now?”

Well to comfort my fellow brothers and sisters in Turkana, here are a couple of gestures from the rest of the country to you:

     

Some love from; the bottlers and carrier association from Central,

  the nation

 

 

And last but not least, an Oscar winning presentation from Kenya’s very own “Stevie Wonder” singing to Rihanna’s hit single,”We found Love”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpKDKKoCMMc[/youtube]

[I think we should also call the Waka Waka  star singer A.K.A Shakira to come to town and drop a remix of “It’s time for Turkana”,and why not? We can now afford it… (- _-)]

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