Nairobi - Hundreds of demonstrators marched
through the Kenyan capital demanding election reforms on Monday,
as a rights group said at least 37 people were killed in three
days of protests that followed a presidential vote on August 8
that was voided.
Last month the Supreme Court nullified incumbent President
Uhuru Kenyatta's August win due to procedural irregularities.
Kenya is due to repeat the presidential election on October 26,
pitting Kenyatta against opposition leader Raila Odinga.
But Odinga's opposition alliance is threatening to boycott
the poll unless the election board changes some personnel. The
uncertainty has created political turmoil in the east African
nation, which is a regional trade hub and staunch Western ally.
Opposition senator James Orengo said demonstrators also
wanted to warn ruling party lawmakers not to pass a proposed
amendment to the election law that would limit the circumstances
in which the Supreme Court could void an election on procedural
grounds.
"If parliament passes the law tomorrow, it will be like
declaring war on the Kenyan people," he said.
Shots were fired in the air as the demonstrators marched
towards the election board, and police on horseback set up
blockades to prevent them from accessing some roads.
A police crackdown during three days of protests following
the August 8 polls killed at least 37 people, the
government-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said
in a report released on Monday, the highest death toll yet
given.
Some deaths were "attributed to police using live bullets
and a few from police bludgeoning using clubs," the report said.
It named a 6-month-old baby girl, a 7-year-old boy, and an
8-year-old girl as victims.