TURKANA – A long-running and politically sensitive land question in Turkana is entering another phase as the government prepares to compensate thousands of people affected by oil development while simultaneously undertaking community land surveys and demarcation in parts of the county. On September 1, 2026, a joint government team comprising officials from the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, the State Department of Petroleum, and the National Land Commission (NLC) briefed Turkana County Commissioner Julius Kavita in Lodwar on the planned activities.
The NLC indicated that approximately 3,600 Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) associated with the upstream oil development project are expected to receive compensation awards, with Sh200 million set aside by the National Treasury for the first phase targeting affected development structures.
However, as the government prepares to release the funds, Turkana’s complicated history with land acquisition and compensation is once again coming into focus. For a county where land has traditionally been held communally and where pastoral communities depend on extensive grazing territories, the compensation question goes far beyond individual structures and monetary awards. It touches directly on community ownership, customary use, grazing access, valuation, displacement, and who holds the legitimate authority to speak for the land.
This latest exercise comes against the backdrop of the South Lokichar oil development project and plans to expand petroleum activities in Turkana. A joint parliamentary committee examining the Field Development Plan and Production Sharing Contracts for Blocks T6 and T7 found that 40,000 acres targeted for acquisition were registered as community land under 21 separate title deeds. The committee made an important distinction regarding payouts, reporting that compensation would not be paid to individual landowners but to Community Land Management Committees (CLMCs), which would administer the funds for collective community benefit.
That position reflects the constitutional and legal character of community land in Turkana and makes the identification of individual PAPs a particularly sensitive undertaking. The parliamentary report noted that large-scale acquisition had generated 568 formal grievances during public inquiries, while the NLC identified individuals who allegedly erected temporary structures after gazettement to artificially inflate claims. Consequently, Parliament proposed a rigorous validation process to distinguish legitimate targets from opportunistic claims a finding that gives added weight to County Commissioner Kavita’s directive urging due diligence, transparency, verification, and peace-building throughout the process.
Another unresolved issue has been the method of valuing land in Turkana, which currently lacks a gazetted Land Value Index. To bridge this gap, the NLC told Parliament during debates on February 25, 2026, that it uses a “hybrid valuation approach” combining assessed market value with a statutory distribution allowance to recognize property value alongside livelihood disruption. For a pastoralist community whose survival depends on mobility, this distinction is critical: while a physical structure can be valued and compensated, losing access to the wider grazing landscape raises far broader questions about the economic and social cost of development.
The current compensation exercise is the latest in a series of attempts to resolve these land disputes. In February 2019, the NLC gazetted land for compulsory acquisition for the Upstream Development South Lokichar Basin Oil Project, sparking immediate pushback from local leaders and residents who gathered at Lokichar in March 2019 over a lack of county consultation. Similar anxieties surfaced in November 2021 when residents questioned reports regarding 516 people earmarked for compensation, forcing the NLC to clarify that the figure referred to well coordinates rather than individual landowners.
The National Land Commission returned to the centre of the dispute in 2026 to resolve these lingering issues. On January 6, the NLC undertook a preliminary inquiry into local land disputes, followed by an April 15 delegation led by NLC Chairperson Dr. Abdillahi Alawy, Commissioner Vincent Kigen, and CEO Kabale Tache. The team met with County Commissioner Kavita, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai, and residents in Kapese to hear grievances directly, promising to collaborate with the State Department of Petroleum, Gulf Energy, and local leaders to reach common ground.
The rollout also follows procedural delays caused by institutional vacancy within the NLC. During parliamentary proceedings in February 2026, the Commission explained that compensation approvals had been delayed because the departure of commissioners left them without the quorum required to finalize valuation reports. The reconstitution of the Commission has since enabled the process to move forward, giving significant weight to the September 1 announcement of the Sh200 million first tranche.
Alongside oil compensation, the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, led by Leah Losuru, outlined plans at the September 1 briefing for community sensitisation, land surveying, and demarcation in Lorengippi, Lokiriama, and Nakurio. Although separate from the immediate oil payouts, this initiative aims to document and secure community land rights. While demarcation can protect boundaries against unauthorized acquisition, it can also spark local disputes if the drawn lines fail to respect customary grazing areas, migration routes, and traditional settlements.
To facilitate smooth implementation, the Turkana County Government has pledged its full support. Following the briefing with the County Commissioner, the joint team met with Deputy County Secretary (Administration) Joseph Nyang’a, who assured them of the county’s cooperation during the demarcation exercise and committed to supporting improved service delivery for local residents.
The government now faces a delicate balancing act between advancing national oil production goals and protecting pastoralist livelihoods. To mitigate disruption, Parliament noted that the 40,000-acre acquisition exceeds the actual operational footprint, prompting plans for controlled grazing access in safe zones. Meanwhile, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen informed Parliament that the National Police Service and security agencies will secure compensation operations and monitor potential community tensions. Ultimately, for the residents of Turkana, success will be judged on whether this process finally resolves core questions around ownership, representation, valuation, and the preservation of communal grazing rights.
