Police under the microscope as death toll rises following Kenyan election

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>In an escalation of Kenya&&num;8217&semi;s deadly election violence&comma; police have fired live ammunition at rioters and used tear gas on vehicles carrying opposition officials&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nine bodies with gunshot wounds have been brought to the capital&&num;8217&semi;s main morgue&comma; while a young girl is among at least 24 people killed by police gunfire since Tuesday&&num;8217&semi;s disputed vote in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor&comma; according to a watchdog group&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The police have come under scrutiny for what the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights&comma; which monitors government institutions&comma; described as the &&num;8220&semi;unlawful and unacceptable&&num;8221&semi; use of excessive force&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Seventeen of the 24 people shot by police died in Nairobi&comma; the commission said&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It cited allegations of police breaking into homes&comma; beating people&comma; threatening them with rape and demanding money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The watchdog group also lamented &&num;8220&semi;the destruction of private property by both civilians and allegedly by security personnel in the course of their duty&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to Leonard Katana&comma; a regional police commander&comma; the police have shot and killed two people during riots by opposition supporters on the outskirts of Kisumu&comma; while another five people have been injured by gunfire in in the city&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In Mathare&comma; where Kenyatta&&num;8217&semi;s main challenger Raila Odinga has significant support&comma; police opened fire to disperse protesters who blocked roads and set up burning barricades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>One Mathare resident said his nine-year-old daughter was killed by a stray bullet while playing on the third-floor balcony of their home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Wycliff Mokaya said&colon; <i>&&num;8220&semi;I was watching her play with her friends when she suddenly fell down&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;She was my only hope&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;08&sol;KenyaElectionBallotBoxesBAug2017&lowbar;large&period;jpg"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;08&sol;KenyaElectionBallotBoxesBAug2017&lowbar;large&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Kenya election" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"325" class&equals;"alignleft size-full wp-image-117042" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A mortuary official said nine bodies with gunshot wounds were brought to the Nairobi morgue from Mathare&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police were also seen firing shots into the air and using tear gas on a large opposition convoy as it tried to enter Nairobi&&num;8217&semi;s Kibera slum&period; Witnesses added that police harassed and assaulted at least four journalists who were covering the violence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The protests began soon after voting started on Tuesday&comma; when Odinga alleged vote-rigging&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The government has accused those challenging security forces of being criminals intent on looting and destroying property&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In Kenyatta&&num;8217&semi;s victory speech&comma; the president&comma; whose father was Kenya&&num;8217&semi;s first president after independence&comma; said he was extending a &&num;8220&semi;hand of friendship&&num;8221&semi; to the opposition&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Kenyatta won 54&percnt; of the vote to nearly 45&percnt; for Odinga&comma; but the bitter dispute over the integrity of the election process tempered what many Kenyans had hoped would be a celebration of democracy&period; The opposition have said the election commission&&num;8217&semi;s database was hacked and the results were manipulated against Odinga&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The unrest has exposed divisions in a society in which poverty and government corruption have angered large numbers&period; Many see Odinga as a voice for their grievances&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Adding to the rift is ethnic loyalty&period; Kenyatta is widely seen as the representative of the Kikuyu people&comma; the country&&num;8217&semi;s largest ethnic group&comma; while Odinga is associated with the Luo group&comma; which has yet to produce a head of state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But reconciliation efforts and the introduction of a progressive constitution in 2010 have helped to defuse fears of the kind of ethnic-fuelled violence that followed the 2007 election in which more than 1&comma;000 people were killed&period; Odinga ran unsuccessfully in that election&period; He also lost the 2013 vote to Kenyatta and took allegations of vote-tampering to Kenya&&num;8217&semi;s highest court&comma; which rejected his case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Recalling its failed legal challenge in 2013&comma; the opposition has said it will not go to court again&period; It has not directly urged supporters to stage protests&comma; instead telling them to stay safe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Most of the country has stayed calm since the election results were declared&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68e4182f4a3db">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; false &equals;&equals;&equals; &lpar; window&period;isWatlV1 &quest;&quest; false &rpar; &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&sol;&sol; Use Aditude scripts&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings &equals; window&period;tudeMappings &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings&period;push&lpar; 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