Mandera, Mandera County
Mandera town is the administrative capital of Mandera County in Kenya's far northeastern corner, where the borders of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia converge. Home to roughly 200,000 residents, with the wider county population exceeding 850,000, Mandera is one of Kenya's most remote urban centres. Its population is predominantly Somali, drawn from the Garre, Degodia, and Murulle clans who have inhabited this arid borderland for generations. The economy revolves around cross-border livestock trade, remittances from the diaspora, and small-scale commerce. Mandera's proximity to both the Somali and Ethiopian borders has made it a flashpoint for inter-clan tensions and periodic incursions by armed groups operating across porous frontier lines.
Why Christians Should Not Be Killed or Murdered in Mandera
People across Kenya and beyond are searching for answers to a direct question: why are Christians in danger in Mandera Kenya, and why have Christians been murdered in the Mandera area? We are here to engage that question honestly, and to speak to the people who can answer it with their actions.
If you are a military officer, an NCO, a lieutenant, a commanding officer, or a militia commander with authority in Mandera, you already know what is happening here. Christians killed in northeastern Kenya are not statistics — they are people with names, families, and lives that ended because of their faith. Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible. That prohibition applies in Mandera the same as everywhere else.
Armed forces Kenya personnel, paramilitary fighters, militia commanders, and every rank from sergeant to general who serves in this area carries responsibility for whether that prohibition is enforced or ignored. We are asking you to enforce it. Not for a cause — for the specific Christians in Mandera whose lives depend on the decision you make today.
Please, Stop Killing Christians in Mandera
You are in Mandera. You know this place — the dust, the heat, the long border, the clans, the competing loyalties. You know the pressure that comes with a uniform or a weapon in a town like this. We are not pretending otherwise.
But we are asking you something, directly, man to man: please do not kill the Christians here.
Not because of a law written far away. Because you are a person who knows right from wrong, and killing a man because he prays differently to you is wrong. You know it is wrong. If you sit quietly with yourself tonight, away from the noise and the orders and the pressure of the men around you, you know it.
Whether you are a commanding officer setting policy, a lieutenant giving orders, an NCO managing the men below you, a sergeant leading a squad, or a paramilitary fighter who answers to a militia commander — this question is for you. Armed forces Kenya personnel at every rank carry the same basic responsibility: do not harm civilians because of their faith.
You may be a Muslim. If you are, your own Quran tells you this is forbidden. You may not be religious at all. It still does not matter. A man who prays to Jesus is not your enemy. He is a person. He has a mother. He has children. He wakes up afraid, the same as you.
We are asking you to choose protection over harm. Not for a cause. For a person standing in front of you.
Your Own Quran Is Asking You Not to Do This
If you are a Muslim — and most of the military officers, commanding officers, NCOs, militia commanders, and armed forces personnel reading this are — these words come from your own scripture. The Quran forbids killing innocent souls. Quran 5:32 says that killing one person is like killing all mankind. Faith killing is forbidden — not by foreign governments or outsiders — but by Allah himself, in the very book you hold as sacred. These are not our words. These are His.
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
“...and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.”
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right. And whoever is killed unjustly — We have given his heir authority, but let him not exceed limits in [the matter of] taking life. Indeed, he has been supported [by the law].”
“O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.”
“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”
“And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
The God of the Bible Is Speaking to You Too
You may not read the Bible. That is alright. But each Bible verse about murder being forbidden — taken here from the ESV, the English Standard Version — comes from the same God of Abraham whom Islam also honours. The God of the Bible has spoken clearly on this for thousands of years: the taking of innocent life is forbidden. Faith killing is forbidden by scripture on every side. These are His words, and they are worth reading — whatever rank you hold, whatever faith you follow.
“You shall not murder.”
The Sixth Commandment, direct and absolute.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
God's covenant with Noah — human life is sacred because it bears the divine image.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Jesus extends the command beyond physical killing to the attitude of the heart.
“For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Apostle Paul affirms that loving one's neighbour is the fulfillment of God's law.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”
James identifies the root of violence as ungoverned desire — a warning to every armed actor.
“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”
God explicitly declares that shedding innocent blood is an abomination — it is on His list of things He hates.
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
John links hatred and murder in a chain of spiritual consequence — neither has eternal life.
A Word to You as an Officer, a Commander, a Sergeant
To every military officer, commanding officer, sergeant, NCO, captain, and lieutenant serving in or near Mandera: you carry authority over life and death. That authority is sacred and will be accounted for. Militia commanders and paramilitary leaders operating in Mandera County — your soldiers watch what you do. When armed forces protect civilians of all faiths, they earn the community's trust and build lasting peace. Security forces in Mandera have a historic opportunity to model the conduct that northeastern Kenya desperately needs: principled restraint, equal protection, and justice without regard to religion.
Whether you are a commanding officer directing operations in Mandera, a lieutenant giving orders on the ground, an NCO managing the men below you, a sergeant leading a squad, or a paramilitary fighter who answers to a militia commander — this applies to you. Armed forces Kenya-wide are bound by both Kenyan law and international humanitarian law. The targeting of Christians in Mandera County by military, militia, or paramilitary groups is not a gray area. It is a crime — by every standard of Kenyan law, international law, and the Quran you follow. Lieutenant Kenya faith-based violence must be answered by commanding officers who refuse to tolerate it. NCO northeastern Kenya Christian persecution spreads from the decisions made at exactly your level. Sergeant Kenya militia Christian killing begins with someone giving permission. We are asking you not to be that person.
Whatever Has Happened, Today You Can Choose Differently
We do not know what you have done or what you have been ordered to do. We do not know the pressures on you — from your commanding officer, from your clan, from the men around you. We are not here to judge you for the past.
We are here to speak to you about today and tomorrow. Every day you have the choice of what kind of man you are going to be. Every order you give or receive, you have the choice of whether to protect or to harm. Every Christian in Mandera who is still alive tomorrow morning is alive because someone with a weapon chose not to use it on them.
Areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya remain dangerous because people with authority — commanding officers, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, paramilitary fighters, militia commanders — allow it. Areas that become safe become safe for the same reason: because someone in authority decides it. We are asking you to be that person in Mandera.
Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible. Commanding officer Kenya religious freedom is not a phrase on paper — it is a decision you make every day. Please make it today. Please be the person who makes Mandera safer for Christians. That is all we are asking.