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Kenyan Officials Condemn Use of Tear Gas at Children's Protest


Kenyan school pupils and activists push down the wall leading to their playground, during a protest against the removal of their school's playground, at the Langata Road Primary School, in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Jan. 19, 2015.
Kenyan school pupils and activists push down the wall leading to their playground, during a protest against the removal of their school's playground, at the Langata Road Primary School, in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Jan. 19, 2015.

Kenyan officials on Tuesday rushed to condemn the use of teargas against children at a Nairobi primary school who were protesting at the loss of their playground.

Monday's incident was widely broadcast on local and international media, and many Kenyans took to social media to show their outrage, some using the Twitter hashtag #OccupyPlayGround.

Police were seen firing at least three canisters of tear gas just outside the Langata Primary School as several hundred tried to knock down a wall surrounding the playground in protest at what they called an illegal "land grab" to turn it into a car park.

Children wearing green school uniforms were seen scampering away from the clouds of gas, coughing and choking.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said he had censured the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission for failing to address the dispute sooner.

He also said the head teacher should answer for the fact that the children had been allowed to protest.

"Even when we want to protest, we must do it in a civilized manner and not involve children," Kenyatta said at a public event.

Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery visited the school to echo Kenyatta's message. A police spokesman said that "a level of force which is not commensurate to the persons involved" appeared to have been used, and the officers involved would be held accountable.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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