When the State Kills, Who Will Speak?

From Baby Pendo to Boniface Kariuki, Kenya Must Reclaim Its Soul

By Dr. Joshua Wathanga, Founding Chair, Hesabika Trust

In July 2025, Boniface Kariuki was shot dead—another young Kenyan felled by police bullets. His name now joins a tragic lineage that includes Baby Pendo, killed during post-election violence in Kisumu in 2017.

Different towns. Different years. Same horror.

When the State kills, who will speak?

Kenya has witnessed too many moments when the state, instead of protecting its citizens, has turned its weapons on them—sometimes literally. From the tragedy of Baby Pendo to the death of Boniface Kariuki, the nation has seen an unfolding crisis of conscience and governance.

A Trail of Tears: Stories That Must Not Be Forgotten

In August 2017, Baby Samantha Pendo, just six months old, was brutally assaulted by police officers during post-election protests in Kisumu. She succumbed to her injuries days later. The image of that small coffin became a symbol of injustice, a heartbreaking testament to how far we had drifted from our constitutional promises of dignity and protection for all.

Fast forward to July 2025: 29-year-old Boniface Kariuki, a hawker, husband, and father, was gunned down in Nairobi’s Central Business District during a peaceful Gen-Z protest. He was not armed. He was not violent. He was not looting. He was simply present—doing honest work. His life was taken with the same impunity that had claimed Baby Pendo years before.

These are not isolated incidents. From Masimba to Mathare, from Kisumu to Nairobi, a dangerous trend of normalized extrajudicial killings has emerged. According to Amnesty International and KNCHR, over 130 Kenyans have died during protest-related crackdowns since 2023. Thousands more have been injured—many maimed for life. This is not just a policy failure; it is a moral catastrophe.

When the State Kills, the Church Must Speak

In the face of these horrors, silence is complicity. That is why in 2023, Hesabika Trust joined with other Christian bodies and civil society leaders to draft and publish a bold open letter to the President and the Inspector General of Police. The letter did not mince words:

“We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and remain silent when innocent lives are taken by the very state that should protect them.”

That statement wasn’t political; it was prophetic. It was rooted in the conviction that our faith demands we speak truth to power, stand with the oppressed, and act as moral stewards in our broken society.

As the Prophet Micah reminds us:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

This is not just a call for moral outrage. It is a summons to Christian civic responsibility.

Which Way, Kenya?

In a 2017 message titled “Which Way Kenya?“, shared at a Hesabika meeting in the aftermath of Baby Pendo’s killing during post-election violence, I decried the deep divisions within our nation—political, economic, social, and spiritual. The reflections pointed to a country drifting toward a precipice, where national unity risked becoming more rhetorical than real. Sadly, such concerns—shared by many at the time—went largely unheeded. Today, those divisions have only widened.

We live in a Kenya where your last name, your county of origin, or your social class can determine whether you live or die when facing a police officer. We live in a country where families of slain protestors are given no justice and no answers. A Kenya where trust in state institutions is rapidly eroding.

Even more troubling, there is an alarming desensitization to injustice. When Baby Pendo died, there was shock. When Boniface died, many simply scrolled past the headlines. This numbing of the national conscience is the greatest danger of all. As Rev. Dr Edward Buri has written, “When a country loses its sense of the sacred, it begins to lose everything.” (The Standard, May 25, 2025)

The Role of the Church and the Call to Action

Kenya does not lack churches. What we lack is a Church that speaks up. A Church that refuses to stay silent when the blood of innocent Kenyans is shed in the streets. A Church that refuses to side with comfort when God calls us to take sides with the oppressed.

The Church must:

• Be a prophetic conscience to the state, not its chaplain.
• Mentor ethical leaders who will bring salt and light into public service.
• Insist on police and judicial reform as a non-negotiable aspect of national healing.

We also need the Church to disciple its members not only in prayer but in public ethics: what it means to follow Christ in civic life, in resistance to injustice, and in defense of the vulnerable.

The Way Forward: What Must Be Done

1. Justice for Victims: There must be a full, transparent, and independent investigation into protest-related killings. The families of Baby Pendo and Boniface Kariuki deserve justice. This includes prosecuting those responsible—not just junior officers, but those who gave the orders.
2. Police Reform: Kenya’s National Police Service must be restructured. Disband rogue units, retrain officers in human rights, and end the culture of impunity. Oversight institutions must be empowered and protected.
3. A Civic Awakening: Young people, faith communities, and civil society must organize not just protests, but sustained engagement with policy. Register to vote. Join community policing forums. Participate in budget hearings.
4. Legislative Pressure: Parliament must act to amend laws that enable excessive force. Use your platforms to pressure your MP. Civic participation is not a seasonal activity.
5. Faith-Inspired Advocacy: Churches and Christian groups must move from pulpit proclamations to public action. Sermons should lead to petitions. Bible studies should produce policy positions. Let us rediscover the prophetic tradition of Amos, Isaiah, and Jesus.

So, Who Will Speak?

As we reflect on the journey “From Baby Pendo to Boniface Kariuki,” we must ask ourselves: How many more lives must be lost before the Church, the state, and society wake up?

If the Church won’t speak, who will?
If people of conscience stay quiet, who will remain?

Kenya does not need more slogans.
It needs truth, repentance, and reform.

Kenya’s future will not be secured by silence, but by courageous action. Let us mourn. Let us pray. But above all, let us act.

🟡 Your Voice Matters

Do you believe the Church in Kenya is doing enough to speak out against injustice?
Have we become too silent, too comfortable?

👇🏽 Share your thoughts below.
📣 Tag someone who should read this.
✍🏽 Let’s begin a conversation—not just for outrage, but for transformation.

#ChurchAndJustice #FaithAndCivicResponsibility #ExtrajudicialKillings #ChristianWitness #PublicEthics #PropheticVoice #SocialJustice #KenyaHumanRights

Hesabika. Be Counted.