AS MANY as nine people were killed and an unknown number injured in Kenya yesterday as armed police fought pitched battles with demonstrators in the capital, Nairobi, and several towns around the country.
The disturbances were the most violent of a series of anti-government protests which have taken place in recent weeks. Opposition parties, human rights groups and other bodies had called for rallies at some 50 locations across Kenya yesterday, a day in Kiswahili known as "Saba Saba" to commemorate a Nairobi rally seven years ago when at least 20 people were killed.
A youth, found bleeding in a Nairobi park, died on his way to hospital. Two men were shot dead by security forces in Nyahururu, 60 miles west of Nairobi, as mobs tried to storm a prison and a bank. In Thika, 20 miles north-east of the capital, a teenager was killed as police tried to disperse a crowd.
Violent clashes were reported in six towns around the country, but poor communications delayed reports from others.
In the streets of Nairobi, riot and paramilitary police fired teargas and rubber bullets as hundreds of youths took to the streets shouting anti- government slogans.
They chanted "Moi must go" in reference to Mr Daniel arap Moi, the president whose Kenya African National Union (KANU) won the country's first multi-party elections in 1992.
Rocks were thrown at police and at cars. On some streets the youths erected burning barricades.
The police and the paramilitary General Service Unit fired teargas inside All Saint's Cathedral and beat a number of people, including two opposition members of parliament and the Rev Timothy Njoya, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and a pro-reform campaigner.
A number of demonstrators were badly beaten by servicemen wielding long clubs.
The government had warned it would clamp down on the countrywide rallies. The campaigners are pressing for constitutional reforms prior to presidential and parliamentary elections due to be held later this year. It is feared that without reforms, the elections cannot be free and fair.
The Catholic Church, which has spoken in favour of constitutional changes, distanced itself from yesterday's rallies at the last moment.
The Anglican Church of Kenya urged the government not to interfere in any demonstrations.
The violence in Nairobi erupted after a mass rally failed to materialise in the city's Uhuru Park.
Only small crowds gathered to protest against the government's refusal to introduce constitutional reforms before the elections. It is believed that fear of trouble kept most people out of the capital.
More demonstrations are expected in coming weeks, but it still seems unlikely that Mr Moi (73), who has held power at the head of various groupings for 19 years, will be unseated, mainly because of a lack of unity among the opposition.