Thousands of students protested against alleged police killings in Kenya on Tuesday, but the demonstration slid into violence, with shops ransacked, journalists beaten and policemen pelted with stones.
The violence, which took place in the Nairobi city centre, was some of the worst since post-election political unrest at the start of last year.
The demonstration was the latest sign of widespread public frustration in Kenya with the coalition government of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The police, who took a low-key approach at first, moved in after the students began blocking roads, one of them with a petrol tanker.
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About 2 000 students from the University of Nairobi and Kenya Polytechnic poured into the centre of the capital, waving placards and chanting "Ali must go!" in reference to controversial police commissioner Hussein Ali.
Witnesses said the numbers had quickly swelled to about 5 000 as slum dwellers, jobless and others joined the fray.
The demonstrators banged on cars, pulled up trees, smashed the windows of restaurants to grab food and drink, and beat half a dozen journalists with sticks. The police who tried to confront a group of protesters were met with a hail of stones.
Since restoring peace at the beginning of 2008 after 1 300 people were killed and 300 000 uprooted, the unity government has stalled on political reforms and seen various corruption scandals emerge.
In recent weeks, public anger has focused on allegations of multiple police killings of suspected gang members. The controversy was fanned last week by the assassination of two human rights activists and the police's shooting of a student demonstrating nearby.
The police deny acting unlawfully. Ali has said he will not resign. - Reuters
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This article was originally published on page 4 of The Star on March 11, 2009
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