KENYA: POLICE DISPERSE PROTESTORS

(2 Feb 1999) English/Nat Kenyan police detained two opposition legislators on Tuesday who have been active in the protest against construction of homes in one of Kenya's few remaining virgin forests. On Monday, police used tear gas and wooden clubs to disperse hundreds of students protesting the construction plans. During their third day of protests, the students blocked two major thoroughfares in downtown Nairobi and looted a gas station as they marched against riot police. Police and protesters clashed at the downtown campus of the University of Nairobi and at Kenyatta University, about 10 miles north of the capital, on Monday. The protesters oppose the allocation of plots for construction of an up-market housing estate in state-owned Karura Forest, just outside the congested capital of more than 3 million. The law permits the government to lease state land to private users for a renewable 99 years, but environmentalists accuse officials of abusing the legislation by handing out forest land to supporters of the ruling Kenya African National Union party. The protest began on Saturday when students marched to the forest where they had hoped to plant tree seedlings. Police chased them away, and they continued the protest in downtown Nairobi. The clashes, with police using tear gas and wooden clubs, continued on Sunday and spread on Monday to Kenyatta University. During a five-hour melee on Monday, students threw stones and other objects at police. Reporters saw at least two policemen serious injured. No figures were available for students injured. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I'm very sad to say this one. In fact the government has given us a very hard time. By now we should have been doing our exams and right now some of my fellow comrades are taking their exams but me, I feel that as a Kenyan, who is also a patriot, I should participate fully in the liberation of Karura Forest. We want it to be removed from the hands of private developers and without that we will never cease until the government revoke all their ..." SUPER CAPTION: Kenyan University student At Kenyatta University, students blocked a major highway and set fire to a vehicle with a U-N license plate. Deputy Vice Chancellor Crispus M. Kiamba announced that University of Nairobi has been closed indefinitely. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...