Bajuni Community leaders from Lamu County have demanded a binding agreement from the Dangote Group of companies that guarantees them jobs for indigenous people, a share of profits and community development programmes in the proposed Ksh2.2 trillion ($17 billion) oil refinery project while insisting they are not opposed to the project.

Dangote’s planned refinery, expected to process 700,000 barrels of oil per day, is billed as a major addition to that corridor, with construction expected to take about 30 months once it begins. If completed, it would be the largest refinery in East Africa and Dangote’s biggest investment outside Nigeria.

Badi Somo, a Bajuni elder said residents don’t want to be treated as bystanders in a project situated on their land.

“We don’t want to become flower girls in these projects. We want full involvement in every table of discussion, every table of decision-making and every negotiation, as a community, as the local people of Lamu County,” Somo said in Mombasa.

He added: “We don’t want this project to be like the Hoima refinery project of Uganda, where foreigners are occupying the offices and locals are casual labourers. We want job opportunities, 70 per cent of them going to Lamu residents.”

Somo said any agreement with Dangote must be captured in a written memorandum of understanding rather than verbal promises, spelling out the percentage of jobs reserved for locals, the community’s share of proceeds and the specific development projects the county would receive in return for hosting the refinery.

He further emphasised that at least 70 per cent of the workforce be drawn from local youth, and that the Dangote Group set up training programmes to equip residents who lack technical qualifications with the skills needed to be employed at the refinery.

“We want our sons and daughters to be taken to those institutions where they will get that qualification,” Somo said.

Another elder Omar Shariff called for the community to be involved fully in the project from its inception to the end. He additionally asked that at least two per cent of the refinery’s net profit be set aside to directly benefit Lamu County.

Shariff said the community supported the project because of its potential to transform the coastal county.

On his part Sheikh Abubakar Bausi said most of the jobs created under the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor, (LAPSSET) project – a major regional infrastructure project in Kenya – had gone to workers who were not Lamu residents. Mr Bausi urged national and county government leaders to ensure local people are involved this time.

He clarified that the community was not opposed to the Dangote project, only that it wanted genuine involvement in how it proceeds.

Alawy Abuzein commended Dangote Group for choosing to bring the project to Lamu. However, but advised the company to consult community leaders and not politicians.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Joan Kinuthia