At least 10 people have been killed in protests in Kenya, according to a state-run human rights body – the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies that began last year.
Police opened fire on demonstrators and earlier on, a medic at Eagle Nursing Home in Kangemi, Dr Aron Sikuku, on the outskirts of Nairobi, told the BBC that two bodies had been taken to the facility and had died from gunshot wounds.
He said hundreds of protesters had gathered outside his hospital demanding to take away the bodies.
These demonstrations mark the 35th anniversary of the historic Saba Saba (meaning “seven-seven”) protests of July 7, 1990, which launched Kenya’s push for multi-party democracy.
In a scathing report, the state-run Kenya National Commission on Human Rights accused the police of using excessive force, as had frequently been the case during the current wave of protests.
“Police operated in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles on Monday and collaborated with armed criminal gangs in Nairobi, Kajiado, Nakuru, Kiambu, and Eldoret,” it said. The police have denied previous such accusations.
It added that it had evidence that at least two people had been abducted, as well as reported 29 injuries and 37 arrests in towns across the country.
Police tried to pre-empt the protests by sealing off central Nairobi.
From early in the morning, hundreds of commuters and overnight travellers were stranded at checkpoints, some more than 10km (six miles) from the city centre, with only a few vehicles allowed through.
Roads leading to key government sites – including the president’s official residence, State House, and the Kenyan parliament – were barricaded with razor wire.
Some schools advised students to stay at home.
But clashes broke out in parts of the capital as demonstrators lit fires and attempted to breach police cordons. Officers responded with tear gas and water cannon.
According to the leading Kenyan newspaper, the Nation, demonstrations have spread to 17 counties out of 47.
In Meru County, eastern Kenya, a shopping centre in the town of Makutano was engulfed in flames. Clouds of thick black smoke could be seen coming from the building.
In Ol Kalou town, one protester was shot dead and another who suffered gunshot wounds survived.
In Kamukunji, near the Nairobi venue where the original Saba Saba protests were held, police battled groups of protesters who lit fires on the streets.
The PUNCH