Namwaya said the police also fired teargas canisters and water cannons in residential areas during their operation. [Photo|dailymail.co.uk]
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that the police has killed at least 12 people while more than 100 people have sustained serious injuries during post-election protests.
Africa researcher Otsieno Namwaya said that police officers had been called to neutralize post-election protests in the counties of Kisumu, Homabay, Nairobi and Siaya.
The residents told the human rights body that during the protest after the presidential results were announced on August 11, police officers began an operation that saw them smoke civilians from their houses and beat them.
Mr Namwaya said on Monday that the residents told them that during the house-to-house operations, officers broke down doors, beat residents, stole money, phones and television sets and sexually harassed women.
“The brutal crackdown on protesters and residents, part of a pattern of violence and repression in opposition strongholds, undermined the elections.”
“Residents said that police asked for any men in the house and beat or shot them. Many town residents fled to a nearby school for the night, only to return to find their possessions looted, presumably by police,” Mr Namwaya said as quoted by the Star.
The acting interior cabinet secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i had however denied reports that police officers were involved in looting, saying that the looting was carried out by criminals disguised as protesters.
Mr Namwaya said the police also fired teargas canisters and water cannons in residential areas during their operation that resulted in at least 10 people, including a six-month-old baby, in Kisumu county being killed.
“The hospital staff and county government officials confirmed that at least 100 people, mostly men, were seriously injured in beatings and shootings. Many others did not go to hospital for treatment for fear of being further targeted or arrested,” said Mr Namwaya.