Moyale

Coordinates: 3°31′37″N 39°03′22″E / 3.527°N 39.056°E / 3.527; 39.056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses of Moyale, see Moyale (disambiguation).

Moyale
Mooyaale (
UTC+3 (EAT
)

Moyale is a city on the border between Ethiopia and Kenya. In Ethiopia, Moyale is the administrative centre for two Ethiopian woredas, Moyale of the Oromia Region and Moyale of the Somali Region. In Kenya, it is the largest town of Marsabit County and the capital of Moyale sub-county.

Moyale is the main

traditional architecture
.

History

An early settler at Moyale was a

Greek by the name of Philip Zaphiro, (later to become the British Vice Consul and Oriental Secretary to Ethiopia) who had a station which he had named "Fort Harrington". When C.W. Gwynn visited in 1908, Zaphiro's station consisted of a garden that covered several acres and his house, located on a spur projecting from the Boran highlands, and providing access through the line of cliffs that run along the border. "This route may well become some day a considerable trade artery," Gwynn predicted. "Fort Harrington is therefore well placed as a healthy administrative post and as a possible commercial centre."[1]

During World War II, both parts of the town were captured by Italians from Ethiopia in 1940, and retaken by the British on 15 July 1941.[2]

Tensions rose in the Kenyan side of Moyale in early 1999, after an imam was shot dead during an Ethiopian raid across the Ethiopian-Kenyan border in pursuit of rebels of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The Kenyan residents of the town, held demonstrations condemning the action, which they attributed to Ethiopian security men who believed he was a sympathizer of the OLF.[3] In March 2018, nine civilians were killed by the Ethiopian National Defense Force near Moyale after being misidentified as Oromo Liberation Front militants.[4]

In November 2009, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced plans to extend the Ethiopian railroad to Moyale. This would facilitate Kenyan plans, which at the time were at an advanced stage, to develop the port of Lamu and connect it to the Kenyan side of Moyale with a tarmac road.[5]

Moyale town is located at the frontier border between the traditional territories of

Borana and Garre communities,[7] exacerbated by drought conditions.[8] The fighting left at least eighteen dead, and more than twenty thousand people fled across the border into Kenya.[7]

Demographics

For the Ethiopian share of Moyale, based on figures from the

Silt'e.[10]

The Kenyan part of Moyale has an urban population of 108,949 (2019 census).[11]

One stop border crossing

The trans-African automobile route, the

Cairo-Cape Town Highway, passes through Moyale. In June 2021, the one stop border post (OSBP) crossing at Moyale began commercial operations. Officials from both countries sit together in one office and clear passengers and cargo, through immigration, customs, revenue collection and health clearance, saving time. This is the first OSBP for Ethiopia while Kenya maintains four others at Busia and Malaba with Uganda and at Namanga and Taveta with Tanzania.[12]

Climate

Moyale has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) moderated somewhat by altitude. Typically for East Africa, there are two rainy seasons: the “long rains” from March to May and the weaker, less reliable “short rains” in October and November.

Climate data for Moyale, Kenya (1958-1994)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 34.4
(93.9) 		35.0
(95.0) 		35.0
(95.0) 		32.8
(91.0) 		30.0
(86.0) 		27.8
(82.0) 		27.8
(82.0) 		28.9
(84.0) 		30.6
(87.1) 		31.7
(89.1) 		31.7
(89.1) 		32.2
(90.0) 		35.0
(95.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 30.6
(87.1) 		31.1
(88.0) 		30.6
(87.1) 		27.2
(81.0) 		25.0
(77.0) 		24.4
(75.9) 		23.9
(75.0) 		24.4
(75.9) 		26.1
(79.0) 		26.1
(79.0) 		27.2
(81.0) 		28.3
(82.9) 		27.1
(80.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 18.3
(64.9) 		18.9
(66.0) 		18.9
(66.0) 		18.3
(64.9) 		17.8
(64.0) 		16.1
(61.0) 		15.6
(60.1) 		15.6
(60.1) 		16.1
(61.0) 		18.3
(64.9) 		17.2
(63.0) 		17.8
(64.0) 		17.4
(63.3)
Record low °C (°F) 13.9
(57.0) 		15.0
(59.0) 		14.4
(57.9) 		14.4
(57.9) 		13.3
(55.9) 		12.8
(55.0) 		12.2
(54.0) 		12.8
(55.0) 		13.9
(57.0) 		14.4
(57.9) 		13.9
(57.0) 		13.9
(57.0) 		12.2
(54.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 10.9
(0.43) 		18.5
(0.73) 		53.3
(2.10) 		176.8
(6.96) 		119.6
(4.71) 		16.8
(0.66) 		16.5
(0.65) 		16.5
(0.65) 		27.4
(1.08) 		95.8
(3.77) 		80.8
(3.18) 		38.6
(1.52) 		671.5
(26.44)
Source: Sistema de Clasificación Bioclimática Mundial[13]

References

  1. ^ C. W. Gwynn, "A Journey in Southern Abyssinia", Geographical Journal, 38 (August 1911), p. 122
  2. ^ Stewart, Andrew. "Forgotten Fights: The Battle of Amba Alagi 1941". National World War II Museum New Orleans. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Horn of Africa, Monthly Review, December '98-January '99", UN-OCHA Archive (accessed 23 February 2009)
  4. ^ Maasho, Aaron (March 11, 2018). Potter, Mark (ed.). "Ethiopian soldiers kill nine civilians mistaken for militants". Reuters.
  5. ^ "Kenya, Ethiopia for joint infrastructure (November 24, 2009)" Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, press release of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (accessed 28 December 2009)
  6. ^ "Somali-Oromo border referendum of December 2004" Archived 2009-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre website (accessed 11 February 2009)
  7. ^ a b "Ethiopia: 20,000 flee Moyale clashes - Red Cross". BBC News. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Many killed in Ethiopia ethnic clashes". Al Jazeera. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  9. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
  10. ^ a b 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Tables 2.1, 2.3, 2.14, 2.17 (accessed 6 April 2009)
  11. ^ Urban Poverty All Kenya Province Through Location
  12. ^ Luke Anami (8 June 2021). "Kenya, Ethiopia one-stop border post at Moyale opens". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  13. ^ "KENYA - MOYALE". Centro de Investigaciones Fitosociológicas. Retrieved 2011-10-05.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Moyale.
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