By Evelyne Musambi, NAIROBI
Kenya
Police in Kenya clashed with
anti-government protesters in the capital, Nairobi, in a fresh round of
demonstrations called by the opposition leader.Courtesy
Protesters who turned up early
Tuesday morning to erect barricades on major roads around the city threw stones
at police, who responded with tear gas. A bus was torched.
Business was paralyzed in
Kisumu County, an opposition stronghold, as police clashed with protesters.
The opposition is calling for
action to tackle the cost of living and reforms to the electoral commission
that oversaw last year’s election that was won by President William Ruto.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga
rejected the government’s position that the Tuesday protests are illegal and
urged his supporters to turn up in large numbers.
Odinga said the protests will
be peaceful. The police chief had banned the protests, citing previous violent
protests that led to businesses being looted and Kenyans being robbed.
Ruto on Monday warned
opposition supporters against destroying private property, saying he would not
allow violent protests. He urged Odinga to reconsider returning to talks.
Odinga had called off protests
during Ramadan to pave the way for the talks proposed by Ruto. Both the
opposition and the ruling party nominated politicians to take part in those
talks, but the opposition rejected some of those nominated by the ruling party.
The talks have since halted,
and the opposition announced that it would resume street protests.
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