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Chaos erupted yesterday at the much-publicised pro-Constitution demonstration. Police and demonstrators fought it out leaving scores injured, including leading clergyman Rev Timothy Njoya.

He was baton-charged by police while leading the protest march and after being knocked to the ground was ruthlessly beaten by plainclothes policemen wielding clubs and axe handles.

As they beat him the police chanted "Moi atawale! Moi atawale! (Let Moi keep on ruling).

Officers later boasted that they had targeted the cleric, and one threatened: "If he does not watch out, we will finish him next time."

Also injured was the co-chairman of the National Convention Executive Council, Mr Davinder Lamba, and a businessman Samuel Irungu Mwangi, 36, who was shot in the left leg when police opened fire.

Mr Njoya and Mr Lamba were taken to Nairobi Hospital while Mr Mwangi was admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Nominated MP Prof Anyang' Nyong'o was hit in the face by an exploding tear gas canister as he was going to Parliament.

Bullets, stones and sticks flew onto either side of the combatants as clouds of tear gas drifted across the area around Parliament, the Hotel Intercontinental and even inside the Holy Family Basilica Cathedral.

Two policemen were among those injured in the violence that led to President Moi changing his normal route to Parliament.

One of the policemen, Mr George Njoroge, was treated for injuries to his left leg at Kenyatta National Hospital, and then discharged. Also hurt was 21-year-old Samuel Ochieng who was treated for soft-tissue injuries at the same hospital and discharged.

Major roads in the area became no-go zones for motorists and pedestrians as police lobbed tear gas canisters into the crowds, who replied by showering the police with a hail of missiles.

Many diplomats going to Parliament for the Budget speech had to leave their cars at the Intercontinental Hotel and be escorted to the House by armed police officers.

The Rev Njoya, an outspoken cleric from the Presbyterian Church of East African was baton-charged and seriously injured as he led the marchers who included about 20 MPs to Parliament after prayers at the cathedral.

Policemen later admitted they had targeted him. He is one of the clerics who said prayers outside the church. The other was the Rev Matava Musyimi of the National Council of Churches of Kenya.

"We gave him a better dose than we did in 1997. If he does not watch out, we will finish him next time," one officer said.

The MPs, members of the civil society, some religious leaders and the public had stormed out of the cathedral in anger following a surprise call by Catholic Archbishop Ndingi mwana a' Nzeki's for them all to to disperse.

"We have said prayers and protested about President Moi's order to refer the Constitutional debate to Parliament," he said, before suggesting they abandon the march.

The crowd called him names before storming out of the church carrying their placards.

Mr Lamba, who complained of severe backache from the police beatings, said: "This is but the beginning of a sustained campaign on the reform crusade. No amount of beatings or even killings will deter Kenyans from seeking their God-given rights."

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