Protesters use body to block road as running battles paralyse town

ODM MP Sumra urges protesters to throw away stones

What you need to know:

  • In Kisumu, huge bonfires were set up in Kondele and Kibuye estates, in an attempt to keep off anti-riot police.
  • In the Migori protests, roads were blocked with boulders and burning tyres in effect interruption traffic.
  • The main bridge linking Kenya and Tanzania was also blocked by burning makeshift kiosks.
  • Businesses along Oginga Odinga Street were closed due to fear of looting by the demonstrators.

A protester was killed, 17 others injured and property destroyed in Kisumu Town during demonstrations against the electoral commission on Monday.

The man identified as Mwala, who is a handcart pusher at the Kisumu bus park, was shot in the chest during the mid-morning protests in the town.

Angry protesters carried his body and used it to taunt the police and block a street before it was taken to the mortuary.

Two major supermarkets in the town — Tumaini and Naivas — had their windows and doors smashed by vandals during the protests but would-be looters were repulsed.

All businesses in the lakeside town were closed all morning for fear of looting.

Trouble began when the protesters, led by Kisumu woman politician Rosa Buyu, demanded to be allowed to access the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) offices in Milimani.

Kisumu County Commissioner John Elungata declined to comment on the shooting of the demonstrators.

However, in what appeared a change of tack, the police exercised considerable restraint until they were provoked by the protesters some of whom threw stones at them.

Of the injured, 12 were admitted to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, while the five were taken to the Kisumu County hospital. They had gunshot wounds in the stomach, hands and legs.

“The 12 we have received have gunshot wounds and are undergoing treatment,” said Dr Juliana Otieno, the Jaramogi Hospital superintendent.

The body of the deceased was taken to the Kisumu County Hospital mortuary. He was shot along Kenyatta Highway, next to Imperial Hotel, where the protesters engaged police in a fierce confrontations.

Youths block a road in Migori using burning tyres and rocks on June 6, 2016 in anti-IEBC protests. PHOTO | ELISHA OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

GUNSHOT VICTIMS
Dr Margaret Kuria, Deputy Medical Superintendent, Kisumu County Hospital, confirmed they  had received the body of an unidentified protester who had been shot dead.

“We have only one casualty whose body has been taken to the morgue,” she said.

Among the injured in Kisumu was four- year-old Jeremy Otieno, who was shot in the back.

The boy was hit while sleeping in his family’s single-room iron sheet-house in Kisumu’s Ogango Estate as police fought the protesters.

Ms Scholastica Adongo, the boy’s mother, said she heard him cry out in pain and, rushing to the house, found him lying in a pool of blood.

“Initially I did not know it was a bullet that had hit him until I saw the hole,” she said

Doctors at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital later removed the bullet.

Two more people were shot and injured in Homa Bay County as police dispersed protesters. One of them, a Standard Seven pupil at Shauri Yako Primary School, was shot in the left thigh.

Mr Richard Ooko, 19, was also shot in the leg. Dr Francis Ochieng, Homa Bay Referral Hospital’s Medical Superintendent, said the two were bleeding profusely when they were taken to the hospital.

“We removed the bullets and the two are now in stable condition,” he said.

Five other protesters, who sustained serious injuries, were also being treated at the hospital.

In Kisumu, rowdy youths pelted anti-riot police with stones, forcing the officers to fire in the air.

The Cord protests are meant to push for the removal of the electoral commission through negotiations outside Parliament, a move President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto have rejected.

The Opposition and the clergy have called for talks over the matter.

MIGORI PROTESTS

In the Migori protests, roads were blocked with boulders and burning tyres, interrupting the flow of traffic.

Matatus and private cars were kept off the roads as their owners feared they could be torched by the demonstrators, who poured into the streets from as early as 6am.

Shops, offices and banks were closed as security officers watched the protests from a distance.

All pedestrians using the affected roads were forced to carry green twigs in order to be allowed to pass through the roadblocks mounted by the protesters.

The Migori open-air market, just like the main streets, remained deserted.

Roads leading to the county government headquarters were blocked, with many county and national government workers opting to remain at home.

A woman carries a boulder as anti-IEBC protesters block a road in Kisumu on June 6, 2016. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

BRIDGE TO TANZANIA BLOCKED

The main bridge linking Kenya and Tanzania was also blocked by burning makeshift kiosks, a move that paralysed transportation of goods between the two countries.

Curiously, there were no confrontations between the police and protesters in the early morning.

Migori County Police Commander David Kirui was still holed up in a meeting with top security chiefs as they planned how to contain the situation.

Similar protests were also reported in Rongo and Awendo towns.

Protesters use rocks to block a road during anti-IEBC demos by Cord supporters in Kisumu on June 6, 2016. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

PUPILS KEEP OFF SCHOOLS

At the same time, a number of school heads in Kisumu County sent messages to parents and guardians advising them not to send their children to school.

Owners of businesses along Oginga Odinga Street closed their premises, fearing looting by the demonstrators.

Traders said they opted to stay at home as a security measure.

“Last time, the police raided shops and started beating people. They also destroyed our goods,” said Getrude Atieno, who runs a business on the street.

Reports by Silas Apolo, Purity Apat, Charity Jepkoech and Elisha Otieno.