Did you know that coups are th emost popular method of political reform?
Look at our government.
Fortunately our coups are bloodless. And that's fortunate because bloodless coups are slow, and therefore (up to a point) reversible.
DR Congo 'coup attempt put down'
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo has appeared on national television, saying that a coup attempt has been thwarted
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There was heavy gunfire in the capital, Kinshasa, after rebel soldiers seized the national TV station overnight.
Artillery and heavy weapons were heard near Mr Kabila's residence and in several other districts.
This is the latest challenge to a power-sharing government set up last year to end five years of war.
"Stay calm, prepare yourself to resist - because I will allow nobody to try a coup d'etat or to throw off course our peace process," Mr Kabila said, wearing military fatigues.
"As for me, I'm fine."
He said that 12 people had been arrested.
The alleged coup leader, Major Eric Lenge, is surrounded with some of his men near the main Ndjili airport, said Mr Kabila's spokesman Kudura Kasongo.
The gunfire is now reported to have ended and the United Nations Mission in DR Congo (Monuc) said there were no reports of unrest outside the capital.
