Kenya's Inspector General of Police has downplayed recent police shootings witnessed during clashes between protesters and police officers that are reported to have left dozens dead.
The police chief Japheth Koome said bodies hired from local mortuaries were used to fake police killings even though he produced no evidence to back his statement during the press conference on Tuesday.
"We've seen in recent past - and very unfortunate - senior members of the society going to mortuaries, hiring bodies... telling media that these people were killed by police officers. How low can some of our leaders sink?" Mr Koome posed.
Human rights groups have placed the death toll from the protests at 37, while the opposition Azimio coalition claims at least 50 people were slain and many more injured.
Extrajudicial killings
The interior ministry previously said that accusations of extrajudicial killings or use of excessive force against security forces were false and malicious.
The opposition has said it plans to file cases against individual police officers at the International Criminal Court (ICC), but the police chief has dismissed the plans as "intimidation."
"They can continue threatening us with ICC. That has no implications at all in terms of our commitment."
Anti-government demonstrations began earlier this year initially in protest against the election outcome, then against the high cost of living and most recently against a controversial finance bill that was signed into law last month.
The opposition accuse President William Ruto of reneging on his promises to help the poor, on whom he built his 'hustler-nation' campaign narrative that saw him win the August 2022 election.
