In 2012, Tullow Oil announced the discovery of commercially viable oil deposits in Turkana County in northern Kenya. The announcement triggered enormous excitement and enormous anxiety. Kenya would finally have oil revenue.
But Turkana was one of the poorest and most marginalised counties in the country. Who would benefit from the oil? How much would the local community receive?
What would oil extraction do to the semi-arid environment? These questions have not been fully answered. Oil production eventually began in 2017, but technical and commercial challenges meant the expected revenue bonanza never fully materialised.