The Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) was a guerrilla militia operating in the Mount Elgon District of Kenya since 2005. It had been accused of killing more than 600 people, and of committing a variety of atrocities including murder, torture, rape, and the theft and destruction of property. More than 66,000 people had been displaced in an 18-month period. The group drew its members from the Sabaot people, who are a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin, an ethnic group which forms less than 11% of the Kenyan population, but a much larger percentage in the Rift Valley Province and eastern Uganda. They were led by a former bodyguard to the President, who has now been killed by security forces. Wycliffe Matakwei Kirui Komon was the deputy commander; he claimed to command 35,000 soldiers and scouts. Unusual for groups in the area, they wore jungle camouflage uniforms and had access to ammunition – although AK47s and other guns are easily accessible from bordering nations such as Somalia, costing around $130 while ammunition is more difficult to acquire. The SLDF was funded by unofficial "taxation" of the local residents, and has implemented a parallel administration system.

Commentators had attributed the outbreaks of violence and rise of the militias to several factors: conflict over scarce land resources, widespread unemployment among young men, and a fast-growing population (50% of the Kenyan population is aged below 16). In local tradition it had been considered good for a man to have as many children as possible, and international aid agencies which receive any portion of funding from the US federal government have been prohibited from providing advice on family planning. This has resulted in a fast-growing population which is stressing agricultural resources. Tensions between different ethnic groups were also manifested in the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis.