Kenyans fear more repression after bloody street battles

NAIROBI -- Kenyans fear a slide back to the dark days of authoritarian rule after bloody weekend street battles in Nairobi brought to a head Kenya's worst political crisis since President Mwai Kibaki came to power 18 months ago.

Police armed with tear gas, batons, and water cannons fought running battles with hundreds of demonstrators demanding a new constitution Saturday, in scenes reminiscent of repression under the 24-year rule of former president Daniel arap Moi.

''Batons and tear gas, history teaches us, are sure signs of the dictatorship that the country painfully went through," the Sunday Standard wrote in an editorial published yesterday. ''The events of yesterday have suddenly thrust the country back into darkness and eroded all the gains made since 2002."

But Lands and Settlement Minister Amos Kimunya, a key ally of Kibaki's, said police exercised restraint and dismissed the demonstrators as ''misguided people seeking cheap publicity."

''It would have been brutal, but the police handled the situation well, unlike in the last government," he said.

Kibaki -- hailed with euphoria on his inauguration 18 months ago at Uhuru Park, the venue of Saturday's clashes -- crushed Moi's chosen heir at the polls on promises to reform a constitution that critics say created a ''Big Man" president under Moi's rule.

''I hope the events of yesterday will sober up everyone and everybody, and galvanize us to arrest the situation," professor Idha Salim, a political analyst and the vice chairman of a constitutional review commission, said yesterday. ''We should not let things slide any further."

Kibaki's decision to delay enactment of the new constitution, which aims to trim the president's huge powers and promote democracy, has prompted bitter wrangling in the Cabinet.

The draft law proposes setting up a prime minister's post to take some of the president's duties. Kibaki supported the post in opposition but now has pledged not to allow another center of power to exist during his rule.

Kibaki's stand has angered the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, a key partner in the ruling National Rainbow Coalition.

Otieno Kajwang, a senior LDP official, predicted chaos until Kibaki brought in the draft constitution completed in March. ''I see much more chaos ahead; this is just the beginning. Kenyans have been shortchanged, and I predict they will demand their rights on the streets," Kajwang said, pointing to rallies planned for other Kenyan cities.