Hopes that the inauguration of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta would end months of election turmoil were dashed as at least three people were killed when police fired rifles and tear gas to break up a large opposition gathering.

Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
A woman puts her hands up as riot police flush out opposition supporters who had taken cover in a shack to escape tear gas, during demonstrations in the Umoja suburb of Nairobi Tony Karumba/AFP

At a lavish inauguration ceremony attended by the heads of many African nations, Kenyatta did his best to paint a picture of a country moving beyond its divisions. "The elections are now firmly behind us ... I will devote my time and energy to build bridges," he told a rapturous crowd as he was sworn in for a second, five-year term in a sports stadium in Nairobi.

Less than an hour after he spoke, Kenyan national television carried pictures of riot police swinging clubs at civilians with their hands up.

Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Riot police officers clash with a protester during demonstrations in Umoja, a suburb of Nairobi Tony Karumba/AFP
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Police clash with supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in Nairobi Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
A riot policeman beats a man with a stick as police flush out opposition supporters in the Umoja subururb of Nairobi Tony Karumba/AFP

During and after Kenyatta's inauguration, 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 August election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was shoved into his vehicle amid clouds of tear gas, put the death toll at three.

Photos and video show the crowd fleeing amid the sound of gunfire, and then helmeted security forces striking unarmed people with batons. Other people dipped water from slum puddles to clean their eyes. A witness, Isaac Mekenye, told AP that a seven-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet as police chased opposition supporters. It was not immediately clear if the boy was among the three people Odinga reported dead.

Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Opposition leader Raila Odinga gives an address to his supporters during demonstrations in the Umoja suburb of Nairobi Tony Karumba/AFP
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Leader of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition Raila Odinga leads a commemoration of the lives of his supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces over the election period, in Kibera slum in Nairobi Baz Ratner/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Supporters of Raila Odinga gesture during a commemoration of the lives of opposition supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces, in Kibera, Nairobi Baz Ratner/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
People hold crosses with the names opposition supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces over the election period, as Raila Odinga leads a meeting in Kibera slum in Nairobi Baz Ratner/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
A supporter of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) gestures as he stands atop a motorbike in Nairobi Baz Ratner/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
A opposition supporter holding a concrete block listens to Raila Odinga's roadside address in the Umoja suburb of Nairobi Tony Karumba/AFP
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Smoke rises from burning tyres during clashes between police and supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in Nairobi Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Supporters of the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition set tyres on fire in Embakasi, on the outskirts of Nairobi Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
Opposition supporters gesture near a burning vehicle in Embakasi, on the outskirts of Nairobi Reuters
Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta inauguration protests
People stand near the body of a man who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet during clashes between riot police and supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) in Embakasi, on the outskirts of Nairobi Reuters

Kenya's election drama has meant months of uncertainty. The court nullified the August result, citing irregularities after a legal challenge by Odinga, and it ordered a new vote. Odinga and his supporters boycotted the repeat election, saying electoral reforms had not been made.

Odinga has called Kenyatta's inauguration a "coronation" instead, and he called Kenyatta a dictator and vowed to pursue fresh elections.

More than 70 people have been killed in political violence this election season, mostly by the police. Such killings are rarely investigated and police are almost never prosecuted. Human rights groups have repeatedly accused police of being used by Kenyatta's government to crush dissent.

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