Several people, among them police and journalists, were injured when police broke up a political rally at Busia in western Kenya, newspapers said here Sunday.
Riot police moved in on Saturday's rally, called by the reformist group Muungaano wa Mageuzi (Movement for Change), before it began and started beating people, the reports said.
Some rallygoers responded by throwing stones at police and in the ensuing melee a policeman was beaten and seriously injured by the enraged crowd.
Police also beat journalists at the scene with clubs, smashing video cameras and exposing films in the process.
Four journalists representing the country's main media houses were later detained by police, the newspapers said.
The leader of the movement, popular member of parliament and lawyer James Orengo, was stopped with a group of supporters on his way to the rally at the town of Nambale, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Busia, a key town on the Ugandan-Kenyan border.
The clashes forced a temporary closure of the Busia border crossing point after police completely cordoned off the town.
Police were enforcing an order by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi a day earlier banning all meetings organized by Muungano wa Mageuzi, which he accuses of being a revolutionary movement bent on overthrowing his government.
On Friday, Moi ordered Police Commissioner Philemon Abong'o to ensure the movement does not hold a rally anywhere in the country.
Moi said the lobby group was not a registered party and it would not be allowed to criss-cross the country agitating for political change.
"If its activists cause turmoil, police will be held responsible," he warned.
Moi's order reversed his directive on November 25 when he told police not to interfere with the movement's rallies.
Opposition politicians have accused Moi of backtracking on his reform program -- NAIROBI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
