Election protests turn deadly in Kenya
At least 11 killed after violence erupts in wake of presidential vote
KISUMU, Kenya — The sun had barely risen, but protesters were already bracing for another wave of confrontations with police in the city of Kisumu on Saturday after an election disputed by supporters of Kenya’s opposition party.
As the smell of tear gas and smoke from burning debris clung to the morning mist, residents began assessing the damage from the previous night’s protests after the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, a vote that many in this part of western Kenya believe was stolen, even though international observers concluded that it was fair and transparent.
In Nairobi, the capital, the opposition National Super Alliance Party claimed that the police were provoking violence and accused them of killing dozens of people nationwide, although party officials provided no evidence for their claims. Reports from news agencies put the death toll from violence overnight at 11.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, an independent organization, said Saturday that 24 people had been killed in election-related violence since Tuesday’s vote, including 17 in Nairobi.
Hundreds of residents of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, clashed overnight with the police, who, they said, cut off electricity to create confusion, sprayed live bullets into crowds, fired tear gas and blasted them with water cannons. Residents accused some officers of beating them with clubs and stealing money from them. The police in Kisumu declined to comment on the allegations.
“If the police are coming to beat us, we are ready for war,” Calvin Otieng, a Kisumu resident, shouted, waving a plastic bottle filled with flammable liquid.
Large groups of men talked loudly on a major road that was blocked with rocks, burning tires and overturned market stalls. Some shops had been set on fire.
“We are angry and we want to demonstrate,” said another resident, Ken Wamungu, 30. “But the police are not protecting our right to protest.”
Around midnight Friday, Kenyatta was declared the winner against Raila Odinga, the 72-year-old opposition leader. The announcement was made after a bitter contest that was roiled by allegations of vote rigging and the unresolved murder of a top election official.
Tensions were ratcheted up when Odinga refused to concede defeat. He has urged his followers to remain calm, but he also said he did not “control the people.”