PHOTO:Violent clashes in Kenya turns deadly as Riot Police clash with protesters over election body
According to report, Opposition supporters in Kenya flee from tear gas grenades fired by riot police during a protest in downtown Nairobi on Monday, May 16, 2016.
Kenyan police fired tear gas and water cannon on Monday at
stone-throwing crowds protesting in central Nairobi against an election
oversight body they say is biased and should be scrapped, Reuters witnesses
reported.
Kenya will not hold its next presidential and parliamentary polls until
August 2017, but politicians are already trying to galvanize their supporters
in a nation where violence erupted after the 2007 vote and the opposition
disputed the 2013 result.
The opposition CORD coalition — led by Raila Odinga, who lost the 2013
vote and unsuccessfully challenged the result in court — has accused the IEBC
of bias and said its members should quit. IEBC officials have dismissed the
charge and say they will stay.
“For free and fair election, IEBC must go,” read a banner held aloft by
one demonstrator on Monday.
As the number of protesters grew, police fired tear gas and water cannon
at them from trucks parked nearby. A Reuters witness saw one protester carrying
a bag of stones, while others threw them at police ranks. Police struck some
protesters with batons.
“Despite the use of
undue force by police, our peaceful pickets shall continue every week until the
IEBC is reformed,” Odinga wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
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