Kisii town was a no go zone for the better of Friday following severe and violent protests along the County Capital streets.
Hundreds of youth, and others elderly, swarmed the streets in spontaneous demos which paralyzed business in large parts of the town.
It forced the police to call for reinforcement from Nyamira to help contain the mobs.
Tens were seized as police in riot gear battled violent mobs in various streets of the County Capital.
Two people, a middle aged man and woman, were rushed to Hema with bullet injuries.
Police had not commented on the matter by the time of going to the press.
Business was largely affected with transportation in and out of the town grounded for most part of the day.
Traders were forced to close their shops as rioters pelted stones to the police.
It was especially chaotic and intense at Capital Round About, a downtown political Hotspot.
Here bold and violent mobs faced off with the police with stones.
They appeared unrelentless, engaging in a push and pull in the stone littered streets.
Where they were no tyres, wooden stalls came in hand for the unruly protests
Students from nearby colleges and universities borought in vigour, engaging the overwhelmed police throughout out the day.
In certain instances, there were attempts by the mobs to overrun Central Police Station by the mobs.
They were, however, thwarted after police resolved to use live bullets chasing them further away from the station.
The protesters filtered into the streets, especially at Mwembe area at nine in the morning.
Still by 3 Pm police were seen engaging the protesters engaging the Saba Saba protesters.
An officer said they had taken in around 15 protesters as the battle raged on.
Bonfires were lit on many streets blocking traffic in and out of the Capital capital.
A few others, turned up with sufurias on their heads.
In Ogembo, the mobs lit fires along the bridge paralysing traffic in and out of the town.
Bodaboda operators joined in the demos momentarily facing off with the small force of the police offices on sight.
There were similar scenes at Magena in Bomachoge Borabu where youth faced off with the policies.
In Kisii town, those who addresssed journalists said they were unhappy with the skyrocketing cost of living and want the government to act .
“This government rode on the trust of the masses to win but it is now imposing punitive taxes on us,” Said Manases Austin.
The protests, he said, will go on till President William Ruto acts on spiraling cost of living.
Daniel Nyabwari, an elderly protester, said the protests in Kisii were spontaneous adding that nobody sponsored them.
” We all got ourselves here because we are angry with the government, the cost of every basic item is hitting the roof yet those in authority are aloof and disconnected from the pain we are going through,” he told journalists.
He pushed for reductions on fuel saying high cost of living anywhere is a recipe for chaos.
Joseph Obwoge, a youth dismissed the notion that residents of Kisii have no problem with food costs.
” Those selling the narrative that Kisii has no problem with food are selfish, we know them . We are as much affected as any other Kenyan,” he said.
Meanwhile security patrols were especially intensified in downtown Kisii to forestall disruption of the ongoing Agricultural show.
A few school students attending the event were caught up in the melee during the chaotic protests.
Elderly citizens who had turned up in banks to collect their stipends were caught in the midst of the confrontations.