24 people killed as post-election violence engulfs Kenya

The re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta has triggered violence in Kenya following the disputed election process. At least 24 people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed with rights activists blaming the security forces for shooting them dead.

Deadly violence erupted on Saturday, 12 January in the western city of Kisumu and its suburbs as the opposition political parties rejected the election outcome. There are widespread concerns that the growing violence could snowball into something bigger as it happened in 2007 when more than 1,000 people had lost their lives.

Kenyatta won his second and last five-year presidential term on Friday, 11 August in a tense contest against his long-time opponent, Raila Odinga, 72. The incumbent won 54% of the votes with a pledge to create more than a million jobs. The election outcome was ratified by independent monitors who kept a close watch on the democratic process.

An opposition bloc led by the presidential contender and Kenyatta's political rival, Odinga, said the latest violence has already left more than 100 people dead but did not provide specific details for the claim.

According to human rights activists and the Kenya Red Cross Society, 24 people were found dead with close to 100 others were wounded when the police cracked down on the protesters. Police had earlier fired live bullets and tear gas in capital Nairobi and its outskirts were demonstrations took place.

"Specifically, these cases indicate that the casualties were felled by bullets and the same has been corroborated by family and community members who have indicated that they were killed during the protests which broke out in various parts of the country," the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights said in a statement.

Government authorities blamed "criminal elements" for the rallies and did not consider them as political protests.