Kenya cops move against poll demonstration

NAIROBI: Kenyan police used teargas and batons yesterday to disperse protesters calling for election officials to be sacked before the re-run of a contested presidential vote.

Several volleys of teargas were fired near the election commission headquarters in central Nairobi. When they regrouped, officers fired more teargas and beat some of them with batons.

Raila Odinga, who lost his presidential bid on August 8, will get another chance, after the Supreme Court annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election and ordered a fresh vote to happen within 60 days.

Odinga has said he would not participate in the re-run scheduled for October 26 if election officials are not sacked and prosecuted.

The court did not find any individual responsible but said institutional failings had led to irregularities and illegalities in the transmission of election results.

Last week, Kenya’s chief prosecutor ordered investigations into 11 election board officials including its chief executive, Ezra Chiloba, as well as a lawyer and campaigner who worked for Odinga.

Some Kenyatta supporters also took to the streets in Nairobi but there were no clashes between the two sides.

In the port city of Mombasa, a crowd gathered at local election office, chanting: “No reforms no elections. Chiloba must go!” Reuters