KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn in for a second term in what some hoped would be the end of months of election turmoil, but violence continued with at least one person killed as police opened fire at an opposition gathering.
During and after Kenyatta’s inauguration in Nairobi, 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 election in August.
A witness said one person was shot dead, and opposition leader Raila Odinga was shoved into his vehicle amid clouds of tear gas shortly after he called Kenyatta’s presidency illegitimate.
The president, speaking to a cheering crowd at a city stadium, said the past few months had been “a trying time” which had stretched the country “almost to the breaking point”.
He called for an end to hate and division, and again criticised the Supreme Court’s nullification of his August election win, saying: “Despite ... being told that the processes matter more than your vote, we complied.”
Kenya’s election drama has meant months of uncertainty in east Africa’s economic hub. The court in nullifying the August result cited irregularities after a legal challenge by Odinga, and ordered a new vote.
Human rights groups have repeatedly accused police of being used by Kenyatta’s government to crush dissent.
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