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Kenyan police fire in air to disperse opposition demonstrators

By NAN
17 November 2017   |   9:23 am
Kenyan police fired in the air on Friday to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters gathered outside the airport in the capital Nairobi, a Reuters witness said.

Kenyan opposition supporters gesture towards Kenyan riot police as they wait for the re-elections results on October 30, 2017 at Kawangware in Nairobi. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was today declared victor of the country’s deeply divisive elections, taking 98 percent of the ballots cast in a poll boycotted by his rival Raila Odinga, sparking fears of further violence in flashpoint opposition strongholds. / AFP PHOTO / Fredrik Lerneryd

Kenyan police fired in the air on Friday to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters gathered outside the airport in the capital Nairobi, a Reuters witness said.

Inspite of the police’s partial ban on protests in the capital, the demonstrators gathered near the airport to wait for the return of their leader, Raila Odinga, from an overseas trip.

The witness said demonstrators threw rocks at police trying to disperse them.

Police were checking vehicles headed from the city center to the airport in another attempt to stop the demonstration from building.

Odinga has called for a “National Resistance Movement” to protest the outcome of the repeat election, which was ordered by the Supreme Court after it annulled the results of an August poll over procedural irregularities.

President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second, five-year term with 98 per cent of the vote after Odinga boycotted the contest.

Only 39 per cent of registered voters took part.

The court will rule on Monday on cases that seek to nullify the October repeat vote.

Judges could order a fresh vote or clear the way for the incumbent to be sworn in for a second term.

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