On Thursday, dozens of people in the congested Nairobi neighborhoods of Mathare and Kibera engaged police in running battles, throwing rocks and burning tires while officers responded with tear gas.
In the opposition leader Raila Odinga’s lakeside bastions of Kisumu and Homa Bay in western Kenya, protesters hurled rocks at police and lit bonfires in the middle of the road.
Odinga has called for protests every Monday and Thursday, accusing President William Ruto of stealing last year’s election and of failing to control the surging cost of living.
The demonstrations were declared illegal by the government which had been much more violent on previous days, with police firing tear gas, water cannon, and occasionally live bullets, while looters went on the rampage.
During the campaign for the August election, Ruto portrayed himself as a champion of the downtrodden and vowed to improve a lot of ordinary Kenyans.