Violent protests convulse Kenya

NAIROBI – Kenyan riot police guarded the rubble-strewn streets of Nairobi yesterday as protest leaders promised a third day of demonstrations against President Mwai Kibaki’s handling of a constitution reform.

The protests – which have turned central Nairobi into a battle-ground with one person killed on Wednesday – have galvanised growing disillusionment with Kibaki’s two-and-a-half year rule. They have also raised fears of a return to the dark days of violence under former President Daniel arap Moi, whose authoritarian 24-year rule ended in 2002.”We will put up as much protest as necessary to stop a few politicians disregarding the will of the people,” Kotiamet Ole-Kina, whose Katiba (Constitution) Watch group is one of those organising the demonstrations, told Reuters.About 20 people were detained during the violence.Ten of them appeared in court yesterday morning charged with creating a disturbance and malicious damage.The protests had been banned by the authorities.Police said four people were injured, but protesters said about 20 had been hurt in two days of fighting between security forces and protesters around the Kenyan parliament.Kibaki promised Kenyans a new constitution – the first re-write since independence from Britain in 1963 – within 100 days of coming to power.But the process has dragged out.A version recommended last year by a wide cross-section of Kenyans – the so-called Bomas Draft – called for most authority go to a new prime minister’s post.But a new version, the Kilifi Draft, drawn up by a government-dominated parliamentary committee, waters down the prime minister’s position and leaves the president supreme.That has incensed opposition parties and civic groups.It has also irked the Liberal Democratic Party, whose leader Raila Odinga sits in Kibaki’s ruling coalition and was promised the prime minister’s job.Now he feels betrayed.Officials blame the violence in Nairobi on looters and trouble-makers, saying the man killed on Wednesday was mobbed by the public after robbing a shop.”We did not fire even a single live bullet,” Nairobi police chief Kingori Mwangi told Reuters.In several hours of fighting on Wednesday, police and troops turned water cannons on protesters, fired teargas, beat ringleaders and even hurled back stones tossed at them.Witnesses said police did fire some live bullets.- Nampa-ReutersThey have also raised fears of a return to the dark days of violence under former President Daniel arap Moi, whose authoritarian 24-year rule ended in 2002.”We will put up as much protest as necessary to stop a few politicians disregarding the will of the people,” Kotiamet Ole-Kina, whose Katiba (Constitution) Watch group is one of those organising the demonstrations, told Reuters.About 20 people were detained during the violence.Ten of them appeared in court yesterday morning charged with creating a disturbance and malicious damage.The protests had been banned by the authorities.Police said four people were injured, but protesters said about 20 had been hurt in two days of fighting between security forces and protesters around the Kenyan parliament.Kibaki promised Kenyans a new constitution – the first re-write since independence from Britain in 1963 – within 100 days of coming to power.But the process has dragged out.A version recommended last year by a wide cross-section of Kenyans – the so-called Bomas Draft – called for most authority go to a new prime minister’s post.But a new version, the Kilifi Draft, drawn up by a government-dominated parliamentary committee, waters down the prime minister’s position and leaves the president supreme.That has incensed opposition parties and civic groups.It has also irked the Liberal Democratic Party, whose leader Raila Odinga sits in Kibaki’s ruling coalition and was promised the prime minister’s job.Now he feels betrayed.Officials blame the violence in Nairobi on looters and trouble-makers, saying the man killed on Wednesday was mobbed by the public after robbing a shop.”We did not fire even a single live bullet,” Nairobi police chief Kingori Mwangi told Reuters.In several hours of fighting on Wednesday, police and troops turned water cannons on protesters, fired teargas, beat ringleaders and even hurled back stones tossed at them.Witnesses said police did fire some live bullets.- Nampa-Reuters