Kenya opposition defies police, vows more protests

NAIROBI: Kenya braced for more violence on Thursday as the opposition vowed to press ahead with a second day of banned nationwide rallies against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election.   

"The demonstrations are going on and we are neither going to be cowed or stop at anything until all our aims are achieved," secretary general Anyang Nyongo of the opposition ODM party said, a day after police fired tear gas and live bullets on protesters in opposition strongholds.  

Police shot two dead in Kisumu and wounded several others in the western city and in the capital's slums in attempts by hundreds of supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga -- who claims he was robbed of the presidency -- to march on city centres.   

Odinga, who charges that Mwai Kibaki engineered his narrow victory in the December 27 election through a rigged ballot count, called the three days of demonstrations after attempts last week to get the two to enter talks to find a political solution failed to make headway.   

But police cracked down with guns and sticks on Wednesday, in a grim echo of a week of severe clashes and tribal killings sparked by the presidential poll, in which some 700 died and more than a quarter of a million were displaced.   

A spokesman for Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said in a statement on Thursday that they would include reports of police violence, including images of police beating protesters captured on local television, in a complaint to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.   

"This killing and other acts of violence inflicted on peaceful protestors will be part of the case we are filing," said Salim Lone in a statement.   

Police maintained that the ban on rallies still held. "Police will do everything to ensure that the law is respected," spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, a day after police cleared the streets of Nairobi with tear gas and batons.  

Many had tried to work as normal in the capital, where the mass action failed to materialise.    The streets of major cities were emptier than usual Thursday morning, with many shops closed, after a police lockdown on Wednesday afternoon on city centres including Nairobi, Eldoret and Kisumu in the west, and the coastal city of Mombasa.   

City accountant James Omondi voiced the frustration of many ordinary Kenyans on his way to work in Nairobi Thursday. "The police are too strong. The rioters are not achieving anything except violence. The situation now has gone too far. They need to sit down and talk to each other, not just continue to protest," he said.   

Meanwhile, a heavy police presence was reported in all major towns as opposition supporters prepared to march again. In Nairobi, the historic Uhuru Park was manned all-night by anti-riot squad officers to keep opposition supporters away from the centrepoint of the nationwide ODM rallies.   

Odinga was defiant Wednesday and warned that a first victory for his movement in parliament -- where their candidate won the position of speaker this week -- had been the start of a fresh challenge to Kibaki's rule.   

The government on Thursday blamed the opposition for the disruption caused by the protests.    "The main intent of the opposition is to destroy the way of life of ordinary Kenyans," government spokesman Alfred Mutua charged.   

Mediation efforts between the two sides suffered a fresh blow Tuesday when former UN chief Kofi Annan postponed a scheduled mission to Kenya due to "severe flu".   

He had been expected in Nairobi to try and broker direct talks between Kibaki and Odinga. "Both camps have taken absolutely irreconcilable positions," a political analyst warned on Thursday.   

"We are headed to tough times ahead both in parliament and outside as both sides harden their positions," added Evans Manduku.