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Kenya braces for mass opposition
protests
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - CBC
Police fired tear gas and live ammunition against opposition
protesters in several Kenyan cities on Wednesday at the start of
three planned days of nationwide protests over last month's
disputed elections.
Opposition party supporters
chant their grievances near a burning barricade in the western
Kenyan city of Kisumu on Wednesday. (Darko Bandic/Associated
Press) |
Witnesses reported at least
one dead, according to Reuters, while at least three were
wounded as police blocked hundreds of young men from
gathering to march in a slum outside the capital Nairobi.
Similar protests earlier this month degenerated into
widespread violence in Nairobi and other cities, with
security forces beating back mobs of angry youths with water
cannons, tear gas and live bullets, as homes in the slums
burned.
More than 600 Kenyans have
died and roughly 250,000 others have been displaced in the
turmoil that has rocked the once-stable African nation
following President Mwai Kibaki's swearing-in ceremony last
month.
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The opposition has said the vote
was rigged and is demanding Kibaki resign to make way for a new
election, while international attempts to mediate a solution to
the dispute have failed.
The dispute has sparked ethnic violence as various tribes aligned
with political sides attacked each other following bloody clashes
with police.
In the western city of Kisumu, about 320 kilometres northwest of
Nairobi, more than 300 people attempted to march Wednesday into
the town centre when police opened fire. A BBC reporter at the
scene saw two people being carried away.
'Nothing will stop us'
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, whose supporters believe he was
robbed of the presidency, called the protests in more than 40
cities across the country, despite a government ban.
Vowing to march on Nairobi's Uhuru Park, which is ringed by riot
police and shadowed by skyscrapers, Odinga told reporters: "Nothing
will stop us from mounting these rallies."
As of midday, there was no sign of a mass gathering in the capital,
although security forces fired upon hundreds of young men in the
city's outlying slums, which are a hotbed of opposition support.
Opposition parliament member Fred Gumo said security forces shot
and wounded three protesters in the Kibera slum.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan was expected in Nairobi
Tuesday on a mediation mission, but the visit has been postponed
because he has fallen ill.
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