Eight people, among them a child, were shot by police in Kisumu on Monday during confrontations with protesters.
Jeremy Otieno Adongo, 6, was shot in the back while at their house in Kasule, Manyatta estate.
The boy was rushed to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital where the bullet was removed; clinicians said he was stable.
Another
one year-old
was critically injured after a teargas
canister was lobbed at a house in Migosi estate.
Two other youth, Omondi Nyamor and Daniel Okello were taken to hospital in critical condition after they were brutally beaten by police.
Among the wounded was a student at Highway Secondary school identified as Joseph Njoroge; he was shot in the leg.
The dead was only identified as a water vendor nicknamed “Mwala”; he is said to have been supplying water at the Kisumu bus park .
Those admitted with gunshot wounds included Dickson Afira (abdomen), Calvince Ochieng' (chest), Steve Okumu (Thigh) and Ranington Ochieng' (Thigh).
When the Star visited Kisumu County Hospital, a doctor who declined to be named confirmed that six people were admitted at the facility with gunshot wounds.
Police positioned near the Kisumu State Lodge fired in the air to break up a crowd trying to march to the electoral body's office.
The protesters accused the commission of being biased towards the ruling Jubilee coalition.
Cord leaders occasioned the demos demanding that IEBC commissioners resign before elections in August 2017.
The protests turned Kisumu into a ghost town as the actions of irate youth taking advantage of the confusion left a trail of destruction.
Traders suffered losses after street children broke through Naivas supermarket gates and looted gas cylinders.
A number of shops remained closed in fear of looting; transport to various regions was equally paralysed as the demos went on.
Windows of Tumaini Supermarket in Kondele were also smashed with stones.
The street urchins also hurled stones at Naivas supermarket in what they termed as retaliation to police hurting one of them.
They claimed that officer who allegedly shot a protester in the hand was positioned near the supermarket.
Protesters lit bone fires and blocked major roads in the lakeside town; sounds of gunshots rented the air.
The Star could not reach the management of the two supermarkets for comments on the destruction meted on their premises during the protest.
Audi Ogada, chairman Kisumu city residents voice association, condemned the killing of innocent citizens especially in estates.
Ogada blamed police for the destruction of two supermarkets.
He said the officers were camping inside the supermarkets prompting protesters to throw stones at them.
Rosa Buyu, ODM national deputy organising secretary, said: “The commission has lost public trust and must be replaced. Our quest is unstoppable,”
Buyu called for immediate arrest of officers who shot dead two people in Kisumu.
Muhoroni MP Onyango K'Oyoo defended the demonstrators saying they “have a legitimate right to defend themselves if police are killing instead of protecting them".
Opposition leaders want IEBC chairman Issack Hassan and his team to leave office on claims that the latter was colluding with Jubilee to rig elections.
“The current IEBC commissioners cannot be trusted to conduct a fair and transparent election," Koyoo said.
There was no immediate police comment on the reported deaths as Kisumu OCPD Christopher Mshimba and other security team was locked in a meeting.
Kuppet executive secretary Zablon Awange condemned the action of police throwing teargas inside school compounds.
“It is wrong that today police threw teargas inside Kisumu Boys High School affecting both staff and students,” he said.
Awange urged police to restrain from targeting learning institutions as they disperse Cord demonstrators.
At Kisumu Girls National School, a stray bullet got inside the institution but luckily did not hit any student. They school management has the cartridges.