Kenya's main opposition party rejected a government ban on political protests and said it would intensify rallies calling for changes to the nation's electoral body.Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery outlawed demonstrations on Tuesday after at least five people died in weekly rallies by supporters of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy that began in April. He threatened to crack down on protesters until differences between the opposition and the government over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission were resolved.The ban "doesn't change anything", Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for CORD, said yesterday. "The courts have cleared us to hold demonstrations."The protests will be held every Monday and Thursday, he said. With presidential elections scheduled for August next year, the clashes between protesters and police have evoked memories of the political and ethnic conflict that erupted in Kenya after a disputed vote in 2007 that claimed at least 1100 lives. The country is the world's biggest black-tea exporter and ranks as sub-Saharan Africa's fifth-largest economy.Former prime minister Raila Odinga, 71, who heads CORD, poses the biggest political challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta, 54, in next year's ballot. Odinga disputed his loss in the last presidential vote in 2013. CORD wants top electoral officials to resign over alleged corruption and bias towards Kenyatta.The ban on protests contravened Kenya's constitution, which was rewritten in 2010 to allow greater freedoms, Gitobu Imanyara, a lawyer, said, calling the decision "nonsensical"."What the government is doing is pushing the country to the brink," Imanyara said.Kenya's constitution says "every person has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate and to present petitions to public authorities."CORD said yesterday that the ban was effectively a declaration of a state of emergency, which the party planned to challenge in the Supreme Court.Eighteen civilians and 32 police officers were injured in protests across the country on Monday, Nkaissery said."It is extremely dangerous for anybody to challenge the government's decision," he said. "The consequences are grave."CORD withdrew its members from a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms on Tuesday, saying it preferred talks at the "highest level". Kenyatta's government has not agreed to hold discussions on reforming the electoral commission.Continuing political turmoil threatens to derail Kenya's economy, which is benefiting from low oil prices, a stable exchange rate and slowing inflation.Dennis Awori, chairman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, a business lobby group, warned last month that the protests were damaging the country's image and scaring tourists away.Ahmed Salim, a senior associate at Teneo Intelligence in Dubai, said: "Unless both sides of the political divide can show some restraint and reach compromises, fears about a possible repeat of the deadly aftermath of the 2007-2008 elections will remain at the forefront of public and investor concerns."The IMF expects Kenya's economy to expand by 6% this year and by 6.1% next year.The economy grew by 5.6% last year. ..