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Paper short abstract:

The oil discovered in Turkana in 2012 has already affected the lives of many people who respond to the growing insecurity they face by drawing from their past and traditions. Turkana thus contest an untrustworthy present and an uncertain future with reliable values and practices from the past.

Paper long abstract:

Large amounts of hydrocarbons were discovered in Turkana, Northern Kenya in 2012. A consortium led by Tullow Oil is in charge of this energy project, which is still at the appraisal and drilling phase. Turkana County is one of the most marginalized and under-developed areas in Kenya inhabited mostly by Turkana people the majority of whom still practice nomadic pastoralism. Even though poor or non-existing infrastructures as well as the low prices of oil of the last years have slowed down considerably the development of the oil operations in Kenya, nevertheless unfolding events of economic, political and social nature have already affected the lives of the Turkana. Overall, Turkana people are facing a rising in conflict and friction among their own communities aggravated not only by Tullow's policies but also by national and local politicians. To respond to a growing insecurity perceived not only when trying to grasp the complexity of oil operations in their land but also when coming to terms with the social injustices and the unfulfilled promises and expectations that the discovery of oil has brought, many Turkana have started drawing from their past and traditions. Thus, histories of origins and belonging become popular, people´s attachment to traditional customs and to the ancestors are revived and traditional pastoralist mechanisms of rights allotment and alliance making for surviving droughts and cattle rustlings are strengthened. In doing so Turkana encounter and contest an untrustworthy present and an uncertain future with reliable and familiar values and practices from the past.