Politics, democracy and why a military coup is a tall order

Kenya Defence Forces soldiers patrol the CBD in Nairobi during the Gen Z demos on June 27 last year / FILE

The sensational headline of a weekend publication last Sunday attributed a quote to ODM leader, Raila Odinga, in which he claimed to have saved President William Ruto from a military coup at the height of the Gen Z protests in June last year.

I was amazed that for such a sensitive topic, the story itself didn’t actually reference a specific coup plot but basically quoted Raila stating that Ruto’s action of ordering the military onto the streets to assist civil authorities in restoring law and order during the protests “had set the country on a dangerous path”.