Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome has said that 238 people were arrested in Nairobi and Nyanza during Monday’s mass action protests.
In the anti-government nationwide protests, 25 people were arrested in the Nyanza region while 213 were in Nairobi.
During the hit-and-run battle between the Police and protesters, 31 police officers sustained injuries and 10 police vehicles were damaged.
“We are condemning the incident that occurred on our Officers discharging their official duties,” Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome said.
He clarified that security personnel had fulfilled their national security mandate professionally, upholding the rule of law and respecting human rights.
The IG of police stated security agents used force gradually, beginning with the lowest threshold, such as a show of force, and reinforcing it with water cannons and tear gas canisters.
The outlined tactics were to prevent the protestors from accessing the central business districts of Nairobi and Kisumu and protected areas respectively.
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The IG maintained that the protests led by Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition kingpin Raila Odinga and his supporters were illegal.
In a statement, Koome said that though the demonstrators were allegedly protesting against what they termed as a high cost of living as well as high prices of basic goods, their main agenda was to take over the State House.
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“What the formulators appeared to be a peaceful demonstration turned into violent crime scenes with protestors engaging in running battles with, and stone-throwing at the anti-riot police officers,” Koome said.
The shooting incident Maseno University student, Koome said the National Police Service (NPS) had started the investigations into the matter.
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“It is regrettable that even after police restrained themselves, acted within the law, and effectively contained the situation, rioters conquered the Maseno Police Station, throwing stones at police officers and property, and in the process, we lost one male student from Maseno University,” he said.
