(GIN)—Demonstrators in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kakamega and Kisumu in western Kenya seeking a new slate of election commissioners were met with an excessive use of violent force by uniformed officers that stunned many Kenyans over its brutality.
Smaller groups of protestors were teargassed earlier Monday, according to a report in the Voice of America. Authorities say the demonstrations were illegal.
Unconfirmed reports claimed at least three demonstrators were killed, 19 arrested and four others hospitalized.
The United States, Kenyan activists and international rights groups have condemned the heavy-handed police action against protestors. U.S. Ambassador Robert Godec used the term “excessive force” to describe the police behavior.
“We have received an overwhelming number of casualties from today’s (Monday’s) demonstrations,” said Silas Oluoch, a spokesman for the Siaya County Referral Hospital. “One person died while undergoing treatment, another person died
in the streets.”
Police reportedly kept protesters out of the city center by barricading the Kibera slums and blocking leaders of the opposition from the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The demonstrators have been holding weekly protests to demand a change in the composition of the IEBC, which oversees elections.
Its nine commissioners are appointed by the president, confirmed by Parliament and can only be removed from office if accused of gross misconduct or incompetency or via a petition reviewed by the National Assembly.
With presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for August 2017, government officials have been urged to take timely measures to avoid a repeat of the ethnic fighting that followed the 2007 vote.
