Kenya police disperse demonstrators as Odinga tempers poll protest call

KENYAN police used bullets and tear gas on Tuesday to disperse a small demonstration in Nairobi two days before elections, as the main opposition leader appeared to row back from a call for his supporters to hold protests during the vote.

In the western city of Kisumu, around 2,000 demonstrators marched on the election board offices, witnesses said, responding to Raila Odinga’s appeal for protests against Thursday’s repeat presidential ballot. They dispersed peacefully.

Odinga is boycotting the contest against incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. He says it will not be free and fair because the election board has not made sufficient progress in carrying out reforms he demanded after the original election held in August was annulled.

Odinga had urged his supporters to ensure Thursday’s vote did not take place, repeatedly saying there would be “no elections”.

But on Tuesday he told the BBC he was not calling for protests on polling day itself. “We have not told people to protest on polling day. We have not said that at all. We have told people to stay away,” he said in a radio interview.

When called for clarification, Odinga’s spokesman said he was saying “peaceful protests” would still take place and that the opposition would fully explain their plans on Wednesday.

The country’s Supreme Court is still hearing several cases challenging the legality of Thursday’s poll or Odinga’s withdrawal.

At least 49 people have died in political violence since the August ballot, evoking unwelcome memories of the aftermath of a disputed 2007 poll, when more than 1,200 people were killed.

The political stand-off has also blunted growth in East Africa’s richest economy, a nation valued for its stability and relative freedom in a region roiled by conflict.