Renowned international journalist Adrian Bloomfield has reacted to claims that Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers forced residents in Likoni to strip naked and swim in sewage.
The Economist and Telegraph writer on African affairs appeared to express shock at the reports in a Tuesday tweet.
"A tale of 2 cities. As Uhuru Kenyatta opened the Mombasa Waterfront his soldiers elsewhere in the city were making sport of passers-by, forcing couples to lie face down in open sewers and fecally contaminated water. Others were made to strip naked and beaten with rifle butts," Adrain Bloomfield tweeted.
"People were made to drink fecally contaminated water. That could kill. These cowardly soldiers should be charged with attempted murder," he added.
The unsettling claims were carried in a story by the Standard Newspaper on Monday and posted on its news portal.
A section of Kenyans have called for legal action to be taken against the soldiers said to have forced the residents to swim in sewage.
The victims of the action of the soldiers said that they were physically assaulted before being asked to swim in the filthy water.
"They wrestled me to the ground and later forced me to swim inside a filthy sewage. I tried to run but they hit me with the butt of a gun," Mr Chikore, a 23-year-old man, told the Standard.
The incident is said to have occurred on Sunday during the Mashujaa Day celebrations that were held for the first time in Mombasa County at the Mama Ngina Waterfront.