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One killed in Kenya as police, protesters clash ahead of election

Monday, 23 May 2016 6:18 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 23 May 2016 6:18 PM ]

A supporter of Kenya's opposition runs away after riot police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse them during a protest in the capital, Nairobi, on May 23, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

At least one person has lost his life as police in Kenya fired tear gas to scatter protesters demanding the dissolution of the country’s electoral commission ahead of next year’s presidential election.

On Monday, Kenya’s riot police used tear gas and water cannons in the country’s capital of Nairobi to disperse opposition groups and their supporters rallying against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The protesters said the election oversight body should be scrapped as it is biased.

Police also fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators in Mombasa and Kisuma, Kenya's second and third largest cities.

In the western city of Kisumu, local media reported that at least one man was killed after sustaining injuries during clashes between protesters and police.

Police said they had arrested seven people in the port city of Mombasa. About 300 protesters held placards reading "IEBC must go home now."

Reports said businesses in Mombasa and Nairobi stayed closed for fear of looting.

"The demonstrations are illegal and the organizers have been clearly warned. If they insist on rioting, they will meet us there," said Mombasa's police chief Lucas Ogara.

Kenyan opposition leader of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), Raila Odinga, waves to his supporters during a protest against the country's election oversight body in the capital, Nairobi, on May 23, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

The protests, held every Monday for the past four weeks, are organized by Kenya's main opposition group, the Coalitions for Reforms and Democracy (CORD).

In a statement issued on Sunday, CORD vowed to keep up the protests in Nairobi and other regions despite the Kenyan government’s warning against street rallies.

“Kenyans will be doing this, as we have done in the past, in exercise of their right to assemble peaceably and to direct the widest possible attention to a great national issue,” the statement said.

The opposition, led by former Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga, accuses the electoral commission of being biased and failing to act on their complaints over the country’s last presidential election in 2013, citing a series of irregularities that skewed the results.

The next election in August 2017 is shaping up as a rematch of the 2013 election, with Odinga expected to unseat incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

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