Police fire on protesters as Kenya marks democracy anniversary; 11 dead

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Officials said at least 11 people were killed in Kenya on Monday when police opened fire to break anti -government protests, including demonstrations in Nairobi, including demonstrations on the 35th anniversary of pro -democracy rallies.

Last month, the death of blogger Albert Ojang in police custody has given fresh motivations to the protests, which made it angry against the authorities and brought hundreds of people to the streets.

A Reuters reporter saw the protesters firing in Kangami, a suburb of Nairobi, while a man was later hit on the road with a bleeding wound.

Six people were injured, and two bullets were killed by the injured, Eagle Nursing Home said. A source at the Kenyota National Hospital said he was treating 24 injured people, but was not detailed when he was injured.

Armed gangs with the police

Kenya police said 11 people were killed, while 52 officers were injured. It did not say who was responsible for the killings.

“Preliminary reports indicate several incidents of deaths, injuries, damage to motor vehicles and looting, police said in a statement.

Since the youth -led protest in June 2024, law enforcement has been deploying a lot in Nairobi, which was initially focused on tax hikes, but has been extended to meet issues such as corruption, brutality of police and unknown disappearance of government critics.

Police on Monday used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who were moving along the road connecting Kangimi to the city’s Nairobi.

Hours later, the protesters and police quarreled, and a reporter of the Reuters saw the police on fire when the mob accused them.

With the government’s financing, the Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights (KCHR) said it had “seen several hooded officers traveling in uniforms, not in uniform, without marked vehicles”.

Under the court order, the police need to be easily identified after the allegations that the protesters had directly circulated on the protesters last year.

The KCHR also said that the criminal gangs worked with the police in the Rift Valley town of Nairobi and Eldortar with the criminal gangs.

Local media said that there were demonstrations in the towns of Neri, Embo and Lexide City city, where half a dozen policemen were dispersed on the back of the horses.

Police had stopped the major roads going to Nairobi and restricted traffic inside the city, and the roads were deserted but for the protesters who had reached on foot. Most schools and at least one shopping mall were locked up in expected trouble.

High alert

Interior Minister Capachamba Merkman, who last month called the protest “disguise as a dissatisfaction”, said the government was committed to protecting life and property.

“Our security agencies are extremely vigilant to deal with criminals and other elements of illicit intentions that can try to infiltrate peaceful processions to destroy, destruction, or destroy property,” he said.

Workers staged a rally every July 7, 1990, when opponents of the then President Daniel Arap Moi began bid to convert Kenya into a multi -faceted democracy.

This protest is called “Saba Saba” – “Seven Seven” in Casohili because of history.

The protest paved the way for multilateral elections in more than two decades after two years.

The death of a 31 -year -old Ojung, a blogger and a teacher, has focused on public anger, which has given rise to protests last month.

On June 25, according to the Commission, 19 people lost their lives across the country on the occasion of the first anniversary of protests against Ojwang’s death and the first anniversary of rallies that ended in the parliament’s storm.

Six people, including three police officers, have been charged with murder of Ojang. Everyone has pleaded ‘not guilty’.