Military has maintained a dignified distance from polls

What you need to know:

Successive regimes since independence have often misused the police to harass political opponents.
Had the military taken sides, Kenya would have most probably gone the Syria way – into a prolonged costly civil war without clear victors.
Under Mbugua’s leadership, the AP grew in numbers and in stature from an ill-equipped unit to become one of the best armed police units.
Kibaki and Mr Odinga to a negotiation table which resulted in the formation of a coalition government with the latter as prime minister.

Never before has Kenya’s military been implicated in a plot to interfere with a General Election as Nasa alleged this week.

Successive regimes since independence have often misused the police to harass political opponents.