Cops use batons on protestors
2004-07-03 14:40
Nairobi - Kenyan police on Saturday clashed in Nairobi with hundreds of demonstrators trying to defy a ban on a public rally called to push for a speedy conclusion to a much-delayed constitutional review process.
Riot police armed with batons, some on horseback, used teargas and water cannon to disperse about 500 demonstrators, including lawmakers, who tried to force their way to the rally's venue in Uhuru ("Freedom") Park on the edge of the city, journalists reported.
There were numerous confrontations in various parts of the city.
Police helicopters flew over the city while main arteries were closed to traffic.
In one incident, university students who are frequently at the forefront of such unrest, threw volleys of rocks at police, who responded with teargas and bursts from their water cannon.
Some protesters carried placards calling for the resignation of President Mwai Kibaki, who was swept to power at the head of a fractious opposition coalition in December 2002, unseating a party that had ruled with increasing unpopularity since independence in 1963.
Some chanted in Swahili: "We did not elect a police government. All is possible without Kibaki and (First Lady) Lucy."
Others adapted Kibaki's own slogan in a national campaign aimed at generating solidarity against HIV/Aids, singing "Together we can destroy Kibaki."
Many also declared: "It is our right to have a new constitution. We elected him (Kibaki) and he should give us one."
The process of delivering a new, devolutionary basic law has been dogged by incessant wrangles between rival factions of Kibaki's coalition government.
During a lull early in the afternoon, many Nairobi streets were littered with the detritus of urban unrest: broken glass, rocks, overturned and sometimes scorched kiosks.
Most shops were closed.
Groups of police, some in full riot gear, were deployed at key junctions, while a large group of civilians loitered on the main highway running through the city.
TV news bulletins reported several arrests and injuries, although this could not be confirmed by the police.