Kenyan security forces battled stone-throwing protesters in Nairobi on Wednesday during a second day of demonstrations against moves to protect the president's powers in an overhaul of the nation's constitution.
At least seven people were arrested and three injured as riot police and troops fought street battles with some 200 demonstrators around the Kenyan parliament, witnesses said.
There was also widespread looting.
In several hours of skirmishes, police and soldiers turned water cannons on pockets of protesters, fired teargas, beat ringleaders and even hurled back stones tossed at them.
Standing in front of the police lines, scores of people sang songs calling for an uprising. "Even if you kill us, we still want our constitution," they chanted.
Groups opposed to President Mwai Kibaki's handling of the constitutional reform process had called for three days of protests before Friday's deadline for parliament to finalise its version of the new treaty prior to a referendum.
The protests have been banned by the authorities.
The most contentious issue is the president's power which the latest version, the Kilifi Draft, by a government-dominated parliamentary committee leaves virtually untouched.
A past version - the so-called Bomas Draft - from a wide cross-section of Kenyans recommended most authority go to a new prime minister's post.
"The common citizen wants the Bomas draft and a small clique of MPs want the Kilifi Draft," said Nicodemus Nyabwa, a bystander who was caught up in the chaotic scenes.
"This is what has caused the havoc. President Kibaki should give the people the constitution they want."
Most Kenyans are disillusioned with Kibaki's two-and-a-half year rule, saying he has failed to live up to his 2002 election pledge to end the tribal politics and corruption that flourished under predecessor Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule.
Critics say cronyism is rife in Kibaki's government, which they accuse of watering down initial cross-party recommendations for rewriting the constitution, drawn up by Kenyans before independence from Britain in 1963.
"We have seen the government is coming to kill people, but they should know they cannot force a constitution down the people's throats," Koitamet Ole-Kina, of the Katiba (Constitution) Watch group, told Reuters.
Members of Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) have accused opposition parties of trouble-making hypocrisy, saying they failed to deliver a new constitution in the past.
By late afternoon, the streets of central Nairobi were strewn with stones and garbage. Police barricaded roads, and shops were locked up, many with people cowering inside.
"They are just looters, idlers, thieves and time-wasters throwing stones. It's just stupid people. We cannot leave now or go about our duties," said Vicki Lucas, a pharmacist locked in her store with about 10 other people.
Many store-fronts and telephone booths were smashed.
Kenyan media appealed for calm in the streets and compromise between the political parties representing the east African nation of 32 million people.