( dpa ) - Police carrying guns and batons patrolled the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi Friday as the third and final day of planned opposition protests over disputed Kenyan election results that have triggered violence countrywide was underway.
Residents of some of the capital's slums said they were not going out to demonstrate as heavy rains poured down while people in the Muslim coastal town of Mombasa said they expected demonstrations once
Friday prayers were done
The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said seven people were killed in demonstrations in Nairobi Thursday, which were mostly limited to its sprawling slums, and that a total of 17 were killed nationwide since the protests began Wednesday.
Tight security has fanned out across Kenya's major cities and towns, with Nairobi's downtown Uhuru Park, where the rally is set to take place, guarded by paramilitary police.
Since Wednesday, most protesters have been unable to reach Uhuru Park as police have sealed off slums, limiting the demonstrations by disgruntled opposition supporters to shantytowns.
The government has banned the rallies and the police have responded to any gathering of people with teargas, water cannons and in some areas firing live rounds into the crowd.
But police have denied accusations of using excessive force, insisting they were using "a lot of extra restraint."
ODM leader Raila Odinga has vowed not to cease the mass action until the December 27 presidential vote is recounted and President Mwai Kibaki admits he stole the vote, as Odinga claims.
But ODM spokesman Salim Lone told the BBC that the opposition would hold off on rallies next week and try economic boycotts of companies affiliated with government members.
Kenya was plunged into violence after the polls, with at least 600 people killed in violence that has touched off ethnic tensions. Another 250,000 have been displaced.