Moyale, Marsabit County
Moyale is a border town divided between Kenya and Ethiopia, with the Kenyan side administered as part of Marsabit County. The Kenyan portion has a population of approximately 60,000, predominantly Borana (Oromo) people who straddle both sides of the frontier, alongside Gabra and Somali communities. Moyale's cross-border economy is vibrant — goods, people, and livestock flow between Kenya and Ethiopia's Oromia Region in an almost continuous stream of informal commerce. The Borana people of Moyale have deep roots in both countries, maintaining clan and family ties that render the international boundary largely porous in daily life. Marsabit County as a whole is approximately 55% Muslim, making Moyale one of the more religiously mixed communities in northern Kenya.
Why Christians Should Not Be Killed or Murdered in Moyale
People on both sides of the Kenya-Ethiopia border ask: why should Christians not be killed in Moyale, and why does faith-based killing continue when scripture on all sides forbids it? If you are a military officer, an NCO, a lieutenant, a sergeant, a commanding officer, or a paramilitary fighter in Moyale, your decisions affect Christians on both sides of that line.
Armed forces Kenya Christian targeting at border crossings has been documented. Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible on both sides of any national boundary. Paramilitary Kenya Christian persecution along this frontier exploits the gap between jurisdictions — the space where neither country's accountability fully reaches.
We are asking you to close that gap with your own conscience. Commanding officer Kenya religious freedom does not require legal authority over both countries — it requires only that you refuse to harm or permit the harming of Christians in the area where you operate. That is all we are asking.
Please, Stop Killing Christians in Moyale
You are in Moyale — a town that is both Kenya and Ethiopia, a place where the same people have family on both sides of a line that governments drew. You understand, perhaps better than most, that a border does not actually separate people.
It does not separate right from wrong either.
We are asking you, warmly and directly: please do not kill Christians in Moyale. On either side of the border. In either country's uniform or out of it. A Christian man in this town is not defined by which side of the line he stands on. He is a person, and your conscience crosses every border.
If you are a commanding officer or a lieutenant in this area, please make it clear to every NCO, sergeant, paramilitary fighter, and militia member under your authority that Christians are to be protected. Not tolerated. Protected. There is a difference, and the people in your charge will see it and follow your example.
Armed forces Kenya at Moyale have a unique position: you stand at the intersection of two countries' responsibilities and two countries' failures. We are asking you to fill the gap between them with something better than more harm.
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
Military officers, captains, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, and commanding officers in the Moyale border zone: you operate under the scrutiny of two national governments. Militia commanders and paramilitary leaders active in the Kenya-Ethiopia borderland — your actions are visible across the frontier and reported in two capitals. Armed forces in Moyale that protect Christians and all civilians demonstrate the discipline that legitimate security forces require. Every serviceman in this divided town is watched by communities on both sides of the border. Show them what responsible, faith-blind security forces look like. That is the Moyale that both Kenya and Ethiopia deserve.
Whether you are a commanding officer directing operations in Moyale, 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 Marsabit 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 Moyale 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 Moyale.
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 Moyale safer for Christians. That is all we are asking.