The police report on Friday shows that a police officer died due to injuries sustained during a Kenyan opposition rally on Thursday.
On the third day of the rally, in Kisumu, in western Kenya, the stronghold of Raila Odinga, a police officer “died of injuries sustained in the line of duty,” according to a statement by Japhet Koome, the police chief.
Koome said 20 police officers were “seriously injured while repelling violent protesters,” pointing to “hooligans posing as protesters who invaded private property.
The Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for bi-weekly protests against the government every Monday and Thursday accusing President William Ruto of “stealing” the August presidential election, of being “illegitimate” and of being unable to curb soaring prices.
The international community and religious leaders have called for calm, fearing the situation could escalate into the ethnic violence seen after the 2007-08 elections, which left more than 1,100 people dead.
Currently, Many Kenyans are struggling to feed themselves daily as they face rising prices for basic foodstuffs, a depreciating Kenyan shilling, and an unprecedented drought in some parts of the country.