The opposition leader, Raila Odinga. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
Addressing supporters at Mayanja road after police officers denied him access to Jacaranda Stadium, Raila Odinga said that he would not be sworn in like Uganda's Besigye but like Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa.
But what exactly did the veteran opposition leader mean by saying that he would be sworn in like Mnangagwa?
That is the question that many Kenyans and political pundits have been trying to wrap their minds around.
Understanding the full meaning of the loaded ''Mnangagwa-esque swearing-in'' remark, one needs to go back to the events that led to Emmerson Mnangagwa being sworn in as the second president of independence Zimbabwe, upstaging 93-year old Mugabe who had clung to power for 37 years.
An important aspect of the dramatic fall of Mugabe was the involvement of the military that had, by and large, helped sustain his long-running and disastrous presidency.
This brings up the critical question of whether Raila Odinga has the weight of the military behind his campaign to upstage Uhuru Kenyatta.
That appears not to be the case; the military appears to be behind President Uhuru Kenyatta to the last man.
The Chief Of Defence General Samson Mwathethe was present during his inauguration, thereafter the President presided over a military event; recent developments that powerfully demonstrate that Odinga lacks what Mnangagwa has in plenty.
Maybe Odinga, a politician revered as a masterful political strategist, knows something that the rest of us don't know.
Another thing that the recently-inaugurated president of Zimbabwe was the support of the vast majority of the public.
That kind of support would be difficult for Odinga to pull off given the sad reality of identity politics in the country.
He controls half while his opponent controls the other half of public support.
Mnangagwa had near-unanimous support of the public.
It would require out-of-this-world genius.