Activists and the father of a Kenyan civilian who was shot at close range by police during the country's latest protests over the alleged killing of a blogger in custody are demanding accountability.

A Kenyan police officer has been arrested over the shooting of an unarmed civilian on Tuesday during protests in the capital Nairobi touched off by the death of a blogger in police custody, a police spokesperson said.

A man shot at point blank range by a Kenyan police officer during protests in the capital Nairobi against extrajudicial killings by security forces is alive but in intensive care, his father said on Wednesday.