murithi mutiga from icg, you start.hat we are seeing in west africa, it is something more complex. it is basically a cry for help. coups borne out of desperation. you know, in many parts of the sahel, these are people that were never particularly wealthy, were not particularly engaged in the democratic process, but could at least live lives of relative normality. lives at peace, where they could attend weddings, they could use public transport, they could go to funerals, all that has been upended. we have seen at least a decade of banditry, jihady violence, and so the people have cried out to men in arms. so are you going on the record, then, murithi, and saying there is such a thing as a good coup? there may not be a good... there certainly are bad coups, i would say coups are dangerous. so, gabriel, there is a kind of coup—ometer as it were, with varying degrees of how bad a coup is or how good it is. do you agree? no, i... i don't believe there is such a thing as a good coup. a coup d'etat is a manifestation of the l

murithi mutiga from icg, you start.hat we are seeing in west africa, it is something more complex. it is basically a cry for help. coups borne out of desperation. you know, in many parts of the sahel, these are people that were never particularly wealthy, were not particularly engaged in the democratic process, but could at least live lives of relative normality. lives at peace, where they could attend weddings, they could use public transport, they could go to funerals, all that has been upended. we have seen at least a decade of banditry, jihady violence, and so the people have cried out to men in arms. so are you going on the record, then, murithi, and saying there is such a thing as a coup? there may not be a good... there certainly are bad coups, i would say coups are dangerous. so, gabriel, there is a kind of coup—ometer as it were, with varying degrees of how bad a coup is or how good it is. do you agree? no, i... i don't believe there is such a thing as a good coup. a coup d'etat is a manifestation of the lack o

and murithi mutiga is africa programme director at the conflict resolution, the icg, that's the international, you too can join the conversation. it's #bbcglobal0uestions. now, before we take our first question from our audience, i thought it would be a good idea to just give you a brief overview of the topic in hand, just to provide you with a bit of background about army coups and conflict in africa.