Hopes that the inauguration of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta would end months of election turmoil were dashed as at least three people were killed when police fired rifles and tear gas to break up a large opposition gathering.
A woman puts her hands up as riot police flush out opposition supporters who had taken cover in a shack to escape tear gas, during demonstrations in the Umoja suburb of NairobiTony Karumba/AFP
At a lavish inauguration ceremony attended by the heads of many African nations, Kenyatta did his best to paint a picture of a country moving beyond its divisions. "The elections are now firmly behind us ... I will devote my time and energy to build bridges," he told a rapturous crowd as he was sworn in for a second, five-year term in a sports stadium in Nairobi.
Less than an hour after he spoke, Kenyan national television carried pictures of riot police swinging clubs at civilians with their hands up.
Riot police officers clash with a protester during demonstrations in Umoja, a suburb of NairobiTony Karumba/AFPPolice clash with supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in NairobiThomas Mukoya/ReutersA riot policeman beats a man with a stick as police flush out opposition supporters in the Umoja subururb of NairobiTony Karumba/AFP
During and after Kenyatta's inauguration, police elsewhere in the capital tried to stop the opposition from holding peaceful demonstrations to mourn dozens killed by police and militia since the original August election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was shoved into his vehicle amid clouds of tear gas, put the death toll at three.
Photos and video show the crowd fleeing amid the sound of gunfire, and then helmeted security forces striking unarmed people with batons. Other people dipped water from slum puddles to clean their eyes. A witness, Isaac Mekenye, told AP that a seven-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet as police chased opposition supporters. It was not immediately clear if the boy was among the three people Odinga reported dead.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga gives an address to his supporters during demonstrations in the Umoja suburb of NairobiTony Karumba/AFPLeader of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition Raila Odinga leads a commemoration of the lives of his supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces over the election period, in Kibera slum in NairobiBaz Ratner/ReutersSupporters of Raila Odinga gesture during a commemoration of the lives of opposition supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces, in Kibera, NairobiBaz Ratner/ReutersPeople hold crosses with the names opposition supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces over the election period, as Raila Odinga leads a meeting in Kibera slum in NairobiBaz Ratner/ReutersA supporter of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) gestures as he stands atop a motorbike in NairobiBaz Ratner/ReutersA opposition supporter holding a concrete block listens to Raila Odinga's roadside address in the Umoja suburb of NairobiTony Karumba/AFPSmoke rises from burning tyres during clashes between police and supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in NairobiThomas Mukoya/ReutersSupporters of the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition set tyres on fire in Embakasi, on the outskirts of NairobiReutersOpposition supporters gesture near a burning vehicle in Embakasi, on the outskirts of NairobiReutersPeople stand near the body of a man who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet during clashes between riot police and supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in Embakasi, on the outskirts of NairobiReuters
