Police in Tala town were on Tuesday morning forced to shoot in the air to disperse protesting traders.
The traders were protesting against an order by the county government of Machakos prohibiting them from selling their goods along Kangundo road.
The traders were mainly those involved in farm produce.
For a month they had been selling their goods along a section of the road on Tuesdays and Fridays which are the market days in the town. Previously they used to market their produce along Limuru road but they were evicted to give space for upgrading of the road.
On Tuesday morning, askaris from the county inspectorate ordered the traders back to their market place. The contractor upgrading the road declined to allow the traders back saying he was still working on the road.
This angered the traders who started to riot demanding to be shown a market ground by the town council. They engaged the inspectorate askaris in running battles. When the protests intensified, the area police were called to offer reinforcement.
During the chaos, a police vehicle had its windscreen broken by stones hurled by the protesters. This forced the police to fire teargas and also shoot in the air to disperse the protesters.
A number of traders were arrest following the protests. By noon some of the traders had resumed their business although tension remained high.