Riots instigated by hawkers in the Nairobi City yesterday left one police officer dead. The officer attached to Makongeni Police Station was killed near a Shell petrol station in the city centre. The hawkers had ignored pleas from Leader of Opposition Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, MP for calm, before killing the policeman.

The hawkers were reacting to a crackdown by the City Council aimed at removing them from city streets and engaged Police and City Council officers in running battles along Kirinyaga and Accra Road. The riots started in the morning but intensified with the arrest of hawkers believed to be the ring leaders.

The riots also left one hawker dead, seven members of the public and nine police officers injured. The injured were taken to hospital where they were treated and discharged. The hawkers involved in the riots, estimated to be about 3000, were blocked by police from looting shops, while some of them, who were armed with guns shot and injured three people, as others continued pelting the police with stones.

Property worth thousands of shillings, including three power transformers was damaged. The rioters also lit bonfires on the roads rendering them impassable before police reinforcements moved in to clear the obstruction.

Police are appealing to anyone with information on the identity of the killers to come forward and help track them. All information received will be treated in confidence.